Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Ethan (@ethanzhang_web3)
RWA Sector Market Performance
According to the data panel from rwa.xyz, as of January 27, 2026, the total value on-chain for RWA (Distributed Asset Value) continued to rise steadily, increasing from $216.6 billion on January 20 to $232.3 billion, representing a weekly growth of $7.6 billion.The increase is 3.51%.The overall RWA (Real-World Asset) market has also experienced a notable rebound, rising from $350.8 billion to $355.08 billion, an increase of $50 billion, representing a growth of 1.43%. The total number of asset holders increased from 637,807 to 656,444, a net addition of 18,637 holders in a single week, a growth rate of 2.92%. Meanwhile, the stablecoin market has maintained relatively steady growth, with the number of holders increasing from 223.34 million to 223.87 million, a growth of 0.23%. The total market value of stablecoins slightly rose from $299.64 billion to $299.964 billion, an increase of 0.1%.
In terms of asset structure, the total value locked (TVL) in U.S. Treasury token chains, which dominates the market, remained unchanged at $9.1 billion. Commodity-related assets continued to perform strongly, increasing from $400 million to $420 million.The increase is 5%.The non-U.S. government debt segment continued to grow, rising from $8.319 billion to $8.491 billion, an increase of 2.07%. Public equities remained strong, increasing from $8.631 billion to $8.754 billion, a growth of 1.43%. Private equity slightly increased from $425.5 million to $429.3 million, maintaining its upward trend. The private credit segment remained stable, slightly rising from $2.5 billion to $2.55 billion. Institutional alternative funds slightly declined, decreasing from $2.3 billion to $2.2 billion.
Trend Analysis (Comparison)Last week)
This week, the RWA market continued to demonstrate healthy expansion, with a steady increase in the total value of on-chain assets and a relatively balanced asset allocation trend in the market structure. Capital flows have gradually shifted toward medium- to high-risk asset categories, particularly in commodities, non-U.S. government debt, and equity assets, reflecting the market's preference for medium-risk assets. Slight increases in private credit and private equity also indicate investors' continued attention to the stability of these asset classes. The steady growth in stablecoin market capitalization and user base has laid a solid foundation for future capital flows, further enhancing the market's liquidity pooling effect, a trend consistent with that of last week.
Market Keywords: Market Expansion, Capital Risk Preference, Capital Diversion
Key Events Review
According to Coingecko data, as the price of gold continues to rise, the total market capitalization of the tokenized gold sector has exceeded $5.27 billion, currently reaching $5,275,490,349, with a 1% increase in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of the tokenized silver sector has surpassed $400 million, currently standing at $439,598,206, with a 4.5% increase in the last 24 hours. Both have reached new all-time highs.
The United States is accelerating its regulation of crypto assets. If the proposed crypto market structure bill is ultimately passed, it will clearly define the authority of federal regulators over digital assets, making cryptocurrencies easier to manage, track, and trade. This could potentially attract more investors and increase token values. According to reports, crypto platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken plan to follow a registration system, while stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether will need to meet bank-like regulatory requirements to ensure the safety of retail investors' assets. The subsequent process will include: approval by two Senate committees, a full Senate vote, returning to the House of Representatives for final passage, and finally being signed by Trump. Overall, most crypto investors are unlikely to be affected in the short term, but in the long run, the bill is expected to provide a safer and more predictable trading environment, while making compliance operations by crypto platforms more transparent.
Chan Mo-po: Hong Kong Expected to Issue Stablecoin Licenses Later This Year
John Tsang, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, stated at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that Hong Kong is adopting a proactive yet prudent approach to developing digital assets, promoting market development based on the principle of "same activity, same risk, same regulation." Since 2023, Hong Kong has issued licenses to 11 virtual asset trading platforms and is expected to issue stablecoin licenses later this year. In addition, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has issued three batches of tokenized green bonds totaling approximately USD 2.1 billion and has launched a regulatory sandbox to encourage innovative applications.
Lee Chang-yong stated at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong that, given market pressures, the South Korean authorities have already permitted domestic residents to invest in virtual assets issued overseas. Financial regulators are now considering establishing a new registration system to allow domestic institutions to issue virtual assets.
Lee Chang-yong pointed out that if a KRW-denominated stablecoin were introduced, its primary use would likely be concentrated in cross-border transactions, while tokenized deposits would be more suitable for domestic payment scenarios. However, he emphasized that there is still considerable controversy surrounding stablecoins. The core concern is whether KRW stablecoins could be used to circumvent capital flow management, especially when used in conjunction with USD stablecoins.
He further stated that dollar-pegged stablecoins have broad applications and low access barriers, with significantly lower transaction costs compared to using U.S. dollars directly. When exchange rate fluctuations trigger changes in market expectations, capital may rapidly flow into dollar-pegged stablecoins, leading to large-scale capital shifts. At the same time, the involvement of numerous non-bank entities in stablecoin issuance significantly increases regulatory challenges.
In addition, Lee Chang-yong pointed out that South Korea already has a highly developed fast payment system, so the advantages of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be limited. Currently, the central bank is advancing tokenized deposits and wholesale CBDCs through multiple parallel pilots to maintain the existing two-tier financial system.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand has released its three-year strategic plan for 2026–2028, with key focuses including the development of a regulatory framework for crypto ETFs and the promotion of asset tokenization. Pornanong Budsaratragoon, Secretary-General of the Thai SEC, stated that the plan aims to establish digital assets as a formal investment category and enhance the competitiveness of the local market.
According to this plan, Thailand's SEC is expected to issue regulatory guidelines for crypto ETFs in early this year and explore issuing them in the form of trusts. At the same time, the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) is studying the launch of crypto futures trading. In terms of security regulation, Thailand's SEC intercepted 47,692 cryptocurrency money mule accounts used for fraud in 2025 and handled over 12,000 investor inquiries. Currently, the value of Thailand's digital asset market is approximately $3.19 billion, with a daily trading volume of $95 million. In addition, the Thai government has approved an exemption from capital gains tax on crypto transactions conducted through authorized service providers from 2025 to 2029.
The American Bankers Association plans to lobby against interest-bearing stablecoins.
The American Bankers Association has listed "preventing stablecoins from generating interest" as its top lobbying priority for 2026. The association argues that interest-bearing stablecoins could serve as an alternative to bank deposits, potentially causing trillions of dollars in funds to flow out of the traditional banking system, thereby weakening banks' lending capacity and endangering their central role in the financial system.
In response, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, refuted the concerns at the Davos Forum, calling the idea that stablecoin yields could affect bank deposits "completely absurd." He pointed out that yields can enhance user retention and emphasized that stablecoins will become an essential payment system for large-scale transactions conducted by AI agents in the future. Critics, however, argue that such measures aim to protect the interests of banks, restrict financial innovation, and put the U.S. dollar at a disadvantage in its competition with China's digital yuan.Viewpoint: The NYSE's Security Tokenization Initiative Resembles "Concept Packaging," Lacking Key Supporting Details
Fortune magazine analyst Omid Malekan wrote that the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) large tokenization initiative is nothing more than an empty promise wrapped in the guise of innovation. The NYSE's emphasis on 24/7 trading and instant settlement is not unique to blockchain technology, as existing centralized systems are technically capable of achieving the same. The real resistance lies in the existing intermediary systems and the interests of business partners. Additionally, the plan has not disclosed which blockchains and stablecoins it will support, nor the programming languages, virtual machines, or token standards. Considering that the NYSE's grand plan "still awaits regulatory approval," the lack of such details is puzzling. The core advantage of public blockchains is not database efficiency, but rather permissionless global access and a financial architecture similar to bearer assets. This directly conflicts with the NYSE's explicitly stated market structure that "limits participation to qualified brokers."
Before the Senate Agriculture Committee holds a hearing next week and debates and votes on the cryptocurrency market structure bill, Democratic lawmakers have submitted several proposed amendments to the bill.
One of the amendments aims to add the "Digital Asset Ethics Act" to the bill. This amendment would prohibit "covered officials," including the president, vice president, and members of Congress, from engaging in certain financial transactions involving digital assets. Bloomberg previously estimated that Trump had earned approximately $1.4 billion from his cryptocurrency investments, including investments in the DeFi and stablecoin project World Liberty Financial. The Trump family also holds a 20% stake in the mining company American Bitcoin.
Other amendments also included provisions aimed at preventing "digital asset self-service terminals" from engaging in fraudulent transactions, as well as requiring the postponement of the effective date of future cryptocurrency legislation until at least four members of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have been appointed. This issue has been a point of contention among some legislators, as the CFTC currently has only one commissioner, with a maximum limit of five commissioners.
A new report from consulting firm McKinsey and blockchain data company Artemis Analytics shows that stablecoins transferred over $35 trillion in value on blockchains last year, but only about 1% of that was used for real-world payments. The analysis estimates that only $380 billion in activity reflected actual payments, such as payments to suppliers, remittances, or salary payments. This accounts for approximately 0.02% of global payment volumes, while McKinsey estimates that global payment volumes exceed $200 trillion annually.
Tether officially announced that Tether Gold accounts for more than half of the entire gold-backed stablecoin market. Key metrics for the company by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025:
Total physical gold reserves: 520,089.350 troy ounces (pure troy ounces)
Total XAUT tokens in circulation: 520,089.300000 XAUT
Gold Reserves: 1:1, each XAUT token is backed by one troy ounce of physical pure gold.
Market Cap: 2,246,458,120 USD
Tokens sold: 409,217.640000 XAUT
Available tokens for sale: 110,871.660000 XAUT
Tech-driven financial services company Capital One has agreed to acquire fintech firm Brex for $5.15 billion in a cash-and-stock deal (50% each), integrating it into its commercial banking and payments business. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2026, and Franceschi will continue to oversee the integration of Brex into Capital One's commercial banking and payments operations.
Brex previously announced plans to introduce a native stablecoin instant payment feature.
Taipao Asset Management Hong Kong Jointly Establishes $500 Million RWA Tokenization Fund
China Taiping Investment Management (HK) Limited (CPIC IMHK) has announced a joint initiative with Hivemind Capital to establish a tokenized real-world assets (RWA) fund on a platform, with an initial target of $500 million. The actual amount will depend on market conditions, demand from institutional and other non-retail qualified investors, and approval from relevant regulatory authorities. Both companies are committed to integrating on-chain investment infrastructure with established asset management practices to deliver transparent, compliant, and institutional-grade tokenized investment products.Blockchain infrastructure company Zerohash is in talks to raise $250 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
Blockchain infrastructure company Zerohash is in discussions to raise $250 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion. However, Zerohash has not yet responded to requests for comment, as the amount could change while the transaction discussions are ongoing. In October of last year, Zerohash raised $104 million in its D-2 round led by Interactive Brokers, achieving a $1 billion valuation. Founded in 2017, the company provides APIs and embeddable developer tools that enable financial institutions and fintech companies to deliver cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and tokenized products.
As AI nearly "dominated" the entire World Economic Forum 2026 Annual Meeting, virtual currencies—once a major hit at Davos—have returned to the spotlight. Representatives from traditional banks and regulators, alongside cryptocurrency industry leaders, engaged in a sharp and in-depth debate on whether tokenization is on the eve of an explosion, how digital currencies are reshaping the boundaries of sovereignty, and the foundation of trust within the financial system.
1. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pointed out that tokenization addresses efficiency issues in the financial system, enabling real-time settlement and reducing fees, but its most core power lies in the "democratization of investment access."
2. Euroclear CEO Valérie Urbain views tokenization as "the evolution of financial markets and securities," which could enable issuers to shorten issuance cycles and reduce issuance costs, and also help markets "reach a broader range of investors," playing a role in "financial inclusion."
3. François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France, believes that increasing investment opportunities must go hand in hand with improved financial literacy; otherwise, tokenization could turn into a disaster.
4. Standard Chartered Group CEO Bill Winters stated bluntly that although tokenizing the majority of transactions by 2028 may be slightly optimistic, the direction toward "the majority of assets ultimately being settled in digital form" is irreversible.
5. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse cited former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, stating that governments will not relinquish control over the money supply. Ripple's current strategy is more focused on building a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance, rather than challenging sovereignty itself.
Garrett Jin, the agent of the "1011 Insider Whale," posted on the X platform, stating that in the context of de-dollarization, prolonging the debt cycle to help the U.S. resolve its debt issues seems unrealistic. Tokenizing U.S. equities to drive demand for stablecoins is the most viable path for the U.S. to refinance its growing debt. BlackRock's push for RWA (Real World Assets) illustrates this, as the U.S. debt continues to accumulate. Since 2025, rumors of the so-called "Mar-a-Lago Agreement" have circulated in the market, but the agreement was never formally signed or implemented. Its core idea was to reduce the U.S. federal debt burden of $36 trillion. In reality, U.S. debt continues to rise, and de-dollarization has not slowed down. Countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and India are all reducing their holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds. If the U.S. wants to refinance old debt with new debt, the only realistic path is to issue more stablecoins and bring new global capital into U.S. Treasury bonds. To achieve large-scale operations, the solution is RWA, which involves tokenizing U.S. equities. Tokenizing the $68 trillion in U.S. equities would significantly boost demand for stablecoins and indirectly absorb debt pressure. This is why BlackRock, closely connected to the U.S. power center, is actively promoting RWA and on-chain stock trading. In this context, ETH will become the settlement layer of the global capital market due to practical needs, and 2026 will be the "Year of RWA."
CZ: The future looks promising in three main areas: tokenization, payments, and AI.
CZ spoke at the "New Era of Finance" panel discussion at the Davos World Economic Forum, stating, "The overall scale of trading platforms has also surpassed that of last year. Currently, the crypto industry has already developed two mature sectors: trading platforms and stablecoins. Looking ahead, three new directions are promising:"
First, tokenization is a very important direction. By tokenizing certain assets, governments can actually resolve financial issues more efficiently, improve the efficiency of the financial system, and thereby promote the development of related industries and trading markets.
Second is payments. In the past, we also tried cryptocurrency payments, but to be honest, the number of people who actually used them was not significant. However, a trend is now emerging: traditional payment methods are integrating with cryptographic technologies. For example, users make payments with Visa or Mastercard cards, funds are deducted from their accounts, and merchants receive fiat currency, while behind the scenes, stablecoins and blockchain are used for settlement and bridging. This model is gradually being implemented and will definitely develop further in the future.
The third direction is artificial intelligence (AI). He believes that the "native currency" of AI agents should naturally be cryptocurrency, and that blockchain is currently the most suitable native technological interface for AI agents. Today's AI is not yet truly autonomous; they cannot book flights, reserve tables at restaurants, or complete payments directly for you. However, once AI truly gains the ability to act and transact, cryptocurrency will become its most natural and native method of payment and settlement.
Hot Project Updates
Ondo Finance (ONDO)
A one-sentence introduction:
Ondo FinanceOndo Finance is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol focused on the tokenization of structured financial products and real-world assets. Its goal is to provide users with fixed-income products, such as tokenized U.S. Treasury securities or other financial instruments, through blockchain technology. Ondo Finance allows users to invest in low-risk, highly liquid assets while maintaining the transparency and security of decentralization. Its native token, ONDO, is used for protocol governance and incentive mechanisms. The platform also supports cross-chain operations to expand its applicability within the DeFi ecosystem.
Latest News:
January 21, Ondo Finance AnnounceOver 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs are now live on the Solana mainnet, bringing a complete traditional finance (TradFi) investment portfolio into the crypto space. Solana users can now trade more than 200 assets, including stocks across various industries, ETFs, market indices and sector funds, gold, silver, oil, and strategic metals, government and corporate bonds, leveraged and inverse ETFs, and more.
On January 24, according to...Official dataOndo Finance's total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $2.5 billion, making it a leading platform for tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds and stocks globally. Ondo's TVL in tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds reaches approximately $2 billion, while its USDY product has exceeded $1 billion in TVL, supporting global investors across nine blockchains. Its flagship institutional fund, OUSG, has a TVL of over $770 million, including funds from top asset management companies such as Fidelity, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton. The TVL of tokenized stocks exceeds $500 million, accounting for about 50% of the market share. Since its launch in September 2025, the platform has achieved a cumulative trading volume of over $7 billion, covering more than 200 stocks.
MSX (STONKS)
A one-sentence introduction:
MSX is a standardized home computer architecture that wasIt is a community-driven DeFi platform focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWA), such as U.S. stocks, and enabling on-chain trading. Through a partnership with Fidelity, the platform ensures 1:1 physical asset custody and token issuance. Users can mint stock tokens like AAPL.M and MSFT.M using stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, and USD1, and trade them 24/7 on the Base blockchain. All transactions, minting, and redemption processes are executed via smart contracts, ensuring transparency, security, and auditability. MyStonks is committed to bridging the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi, providing users with a high-liquidity, low-barrier entry point for on-chain U.S. stock investments, and building a "Nasdaq of the crypto world."
Previous activity:
January 13, Microsoft MSX Issue an announcementStarting today, we are changing the fee structure for RWA spot trading. After the adjustment, this section will shift from the previous "dual-sided fee" model to a "single-sided fee" model. Specifically, the buy side will continue to charge a 0.3% trading fee, while the sell side will have its fee reduced to 0%. This means that when users complete a full trading cycle of "buy + sell," their overall trading cost will effectively decrease by 50%. This fee policy is now in effect across the entire MSX platform, covering all RWA spot trading pairs that are listed.
Previously, Maitong MSX published a 2025 annual review article."Anchoring in the Era's Window, Co-Creating a New Ecosystem for U.S. Stocks on the Blockchain"Review the phased achievements of this year.
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