RWA Weekly: Hong Kong Monetary Authority Aims to Issue First Batch of Stablecoin Licenses by March, CME and Google Pilot Tokenized Cash
RWA Weekly Digest: Key developments from Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2026
The on-chain RWA market cap grew significantly to $24.4 billion, with the number of holders surging to 833.9k, indicating a shift towards user base expansion. In contrast, the stablecoin market cap slightly declined to $3.05 trillion, but monthly transfer volume soared to $9.82 trillion, highlighting a trend of high turnover without new capital injection.
Regulatory developments continued globally. The U.S. White House meeting failed to reach an agreement on stablecoin yields. Hong Kong's HKMA is evaluating 36 stablecoin license applications, aiming to issue the first batch by March. Brazil advanced a bill to ban algorithmic stablecoins.
Traditional financial institutions accelerated their integration into the ecosystem. CME Group is exploring the launch of "CME Coin" and piloting a tokenized cash solution with Google. Fidelity's stablecoin FIDD officially launched. Spanish bank BBVA joined the EU's Qivalis project for a regulated euro stablecoin. Y Combinator will allow its Spring 2026 cohort startups to receive funding in USDC.
Key infrastructure and product updates include: MetaMask integrated with Ondo Finance, enabling direct trading of tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs. Ondo also launched a "Global Listing" service for tokenizing stocks on their IPO day. Manta Network partnered with Pruv Finance to introduce tokenized sports infrastructure RWAs. SBI Holdings and Startale Group developed the Strium blockchain focused on on-chain securities.
S&P Global Ratings projected the euro stablecoin market could grow 1,600x to €1.1 trillion by 2030, driven by asset tokenization demand under the EU's MiCA regulation. Analysis highlighted that the success of RWA depends on robust risk quantification, structured design, and regulatory compliance. The trend of on-chain perpetual stock contracts was identified as a key channel for absorbing traditional finance liquidity into crypto, though it faces a race against potential future regulation. Tether's significant gold acquisitions, over 70 tons last year, were noted as backing for its XAUt token, making it a major force in the gold market.
marsbit02/06 07:59
