🔼 RWA market hit $30B milestone, surging 431% since Jan 2025; U.S. Senate reached a compromise on stablecoin yield in the CLARITY Act.

Quick Take

• The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market hit a US$30 billion milestone in April, with a 431% growth since January 2025.
• U.S. spot BTC ETFs saw a net inflow of $163 million last week, down from a $824 million inflow the week prior. Spot ETH ETFs saw a net outflow of $83 million in the same period, compared to a $155 million inflow the week prior.
• Last week, the U.S. stock market saw a "tug-of-war" between blockbuster AI-driven earnings and a hawkish Federal Reserve. While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit fresh all-time highs early in the week, gains were tempered by Middle East tensions and surging oil prices that fueled inflation concerns.
• • S&P 500 reached fresh all-time highs, closing the week at +0.91% to hit 7,230. Nasdaq Composite grew by +1.12% week-over-week, fueled by AI optimism and strong "Magnificent Seven" earnings to end the week at a record 25,114. Dow Jones underperformed relative to tech-heavy peers early in the week, but recovered by Friday with a +0.55% gain, closing near 49,499.
  • Key market drivers: "Magnificent Seven" drove markets. Alphabet surged on strong AI/Cloud demand; Microsoft and Amazon gave robust AI outlooks. Meta was pressured by high capex guidance. The FOMC held rates steady, but dissents and the push to drop "easing bias" signaled a hawkish "higher for longer" stance for 2026. Continued blockades in the Strait of Hormuz pushed WTI crude over 7%, boosting energy stocks but hurting consumer sentiment and equity valuations. The elimination of the Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule lowered margin equity requirements, increasing retail investor participation.
  • Energy led the week on spiking oil prices, followed by Information Technology amid a historic surge in AI semiconductor equipment makers. Consumer Discretionary lagged on poor retail margins and fears of high fuel costs, while Software Applications struggled as investors rotated into "hard" AI infrastructure (chips and power). Value outperformed Growth late in the week as a hawkish Fed and rising yields favored banks and energy over high-multiple tech. Large-caps significantly outpaced small-caps, as the latter remain more sensitive to sustained high rates.

Research Dashboard

According to our research dashboard, the price index grew +0.36% last week, while the volume and volatility indices dropped -8.88% and -29.85%, respectively.

Token’s performances were mixed. BTC and ETH prices decreased by -0.1% and -1.9%, respectively. Bittensor (TAO), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Zcash (ZEC) led the price growth. Zcash reached a network milestone: shielded supply (the total amount of ZEC held in privacy-preserving shielded pools) hit an all-time high, with nearly 30% of circulating ZEC now held in protected balances.

Chart of the Week

The tokenized RWA market expanded 431% between January 2025 and April 2026, with capitalization growing from approximately $5.8 billion to over $30.8 billion. This surge was primarily driven by improved regulatory frameworks and the entry of major traditional financial institutions like BlackRock and Fidelity. While tokenized U.S. Treasury accounted for the largest market value at around $15.1 billion, asset-backed credit saw the most dramatic growth, surging 29-fold from $82 million to $2.5 billion during the same period. Tokenized commodities also showed robust performance, achieving a 412% gain in market value.

Weekly Performance

Top-cap tokens saw mixed performances last week. DOGE, POL, and TON led the growth.

Memes and AI led the market capitalization increases, while RWA led the drop.

Notable Updates

News Highlights

Regulation

• The U.S. Senate reached a compromise on stablecoin yield regulations in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, garnering support from major crypto stakeholders. Drafted by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks, the agreement bans passive, bank-like interest on stablecoins while protecting "activity-based" rewards for payments and transfers. This resolution removes a major hurdle to federal stablecoin legislation, prompting advocates to call for the Senate Banking Committee to schedule a markup.

Adoption

• Meta partnered with Stripe to begin paying select creators in USDC on the Solana and Polygon networks, starting with pilots in Colombia and the Philippines. This move signals Meta’s strategic pivot back to digital asset payments by leveraging existing stablecoin infrastructure rather than attempting to launch its own proprietary token.
• Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement network to nine blockchains, including Polygon and Canton, as its annualized settlement volume reached a $7 billion run rate. The expansion reflects a shift toward multi-chain settlement to provide merchants with faster, real-time cross-border payment options.
• Circle launched "Nanopayments" on mainnet across 11 blockchains, enabling gas-free USDC transfers as small as $0.000001. Designed for the "agentic economy," the technology allows AI agents to pay for data and API calls in real-time micro-increments.

Investment Instruments

• Roundhill Investments is bringing Wall Street into the event-trading space with the planned launch of the first prediction market ETFs centered on U.S. election results. These funds, effective in early May, allow traditional investors to hedge against or speculate on political shifts via regulated exchange-traded products.

Catalyst Calendar

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