Welcome to the Crypto.com Monthly Research Roundup Newsletter

1. Research Dashboard

According to our research dashboard, 206 public companies collectively acquired around 1.2 million BTC (approximately US$98 billion) as of May 12, representing over 5.8% of Bitcoin's total supply.

In April, the price index grew +12.93%, while the volume and volatility indices decreased by -14.80% and -19.52%, respectively.

2. Charts of the Month

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. Tokenized commodities also showed robust performance, achieving a 412% gain in market value.

The stablecoin market currently shows a notable divergence in on-chain activity. While the total supply, number of holders, and active addresses are rising, transfer volumes are declining.

Stablecoin total supply grew by 0.8% to reach $322 billion on April 30. Monthly active addresses also saw an approximate 3.1% increase. However, adjusted transaction volume fell roughly 11% to $6.6 trillion in April.

This decline in transfer volume coincided with specific supply trends among major issuers. USDT led the supply increase with +$5.6 billion. Conversely, decreases were led by Ethena’s USDe with a drop of -$2.1 billion, followed by PYUSD at -$543 million.

3. Monthly Feature Articles

Real-World Asset Perpetuals: Find The Predictive Edge

Real-world asset (RWA) perpetual futures are emerging as powerful trading instruments, offering leveraged exposure to traditional financial assets through the 24/7 liquidity and efficiency of crypto markets.

Our latest analysis reveals a significant advantage: these instruments act as a “predictive oracle,” frequently signaling TradFi market direction ahead of Monday's opening bell.

Key Takeaways:

• This report uses backtesting to analyze RWA perpetual futures on crypto exchanges, concluding they act as a predictive oracle for TradFi movements at Monday's opening bell.
• Optimal Execution Window: The optimal time for pre-market analysis and hedging is Sunday at 22:00 UTC, just before CME futures open. Price action before Sunday afternoon should be disregarded as it is largely algorithmic noise.
• Asset Class Rulebook: The study identified significant differences in how various asset classes process weekend information:
• • Precious Metals (Gold/Silver): Downside weekend signals in metals proved highly accurate for hedging, successfully anticipating global macro shifts.
  • Equities (Technology): Shorting tech stocks based on negative weekend crypto signals consistently resulted in losses, attributed to aggressive buying by traditional institutions on Monday mornings.
  • Energy (Crude Oil): Oil perpetuals systematically overreacted to weekend geopolitical trends. Anchored by physical supply chains and OPEC+ interventions, weekend oil perps sell-offs were consistently reversed by physical market participants at the Monday open.
• Risk Management and Leverage: Strict adherence to the calculated maximum adverse swing-based leverage limit is critical. Thin weekend order books pose a high risk of liquidation from momentary price swings before traditional markets open.
• Analysis demonstrates that specific RWAs on the Crypto.com Exchange exhibited a lower predictive error across certain timeframes compared to decentralized platforms, underscoring the superior liquidity and efficiency of the Crypto.com Exchange.
• Study Limitations: Ignored execution costs may negate theoretical profits. The optimal trading window is limited by the Sunday night CME Futures opening. The model could suffer from “liquidity illusions” from thin whale activity. The selection of highly liquid mega-cap assets introduces selection bias.

Monthly Market Update (April 2026)

April saw a strong, broad-based "risk-on" recovery led by U.S. equities. This rally was fueled by robust corporate earnings, particularly in the AI sector, and the Fed's decision to hold rates steady. Crypto rebounded significantly. Commodities and Real Estate also posted notable gains. The bond market remained largely flat. Gold was the only major asset to decline, though it maintains a positive year-to-date gain.

Key Takeaways:

• Overall Market Performance: The U.S. stock market achieved a "V-shaped" recovery and new all-time highs in April, driven by strong AI earnings and stable Fed policy. Crypto was strong, with BTC up +13.61% and ETH up +11.35%. Real Estate (+5.86%) and Commodities (+3.89%) also gained, while Global Aggregate Bonds saw a modest +0.38% return, and Gold fell by -1.54%.
• G20 Macro Environment: G20 economies entered a "watchful waiting" phase, shifting to a "hawkish hold" on monetary policy.  A "two-speed recovery" emerged as India and China showed strong growth while advanced economies lagged.
• Crypto Market Dynamics: DeFi categories mostly gained, led by Lending and RWA. U.S. spot BTC ETFs saw a net inflow of $2 billion, while U.S. spot ETH ETFs saw a net inflow of $356 million, reversing earlier outflows. BTC's 30-day return correlation became positive with the S&P 500 and zero with REITs.
• Crypto Regulatory Developments: The U.S. Senate reached a compromise on stablecoin yield regulations in the CLARITY Act, and the SEC clarified that certain DeFi user interfaces are exempt from broker-dealer registration if they remain neutral and non-custodial. Hong Kong granted its first stablecoin issuer licenses to HSBC and a group led by Standard Chartered. Japan moved to reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products.
• Equity Market Trends: Major U.S. indices saw significant gains (Nasdaq Composite +15.29%, S&P 500 +10.42%) fueled by the AI megatrend, robust earnings, and Fed stability. Asian markets mirrored this recovery: South Korea's KOSPI surged +30.61% on chip and memory demand, and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained +16.10%. European markets rose as geopolitical fears shifted to optimism following a ceasefire.
• New Developments in Crypto and TradFi: Crypto.com partnered with UFC to co-present UFC Freedom 250, and launched a Cash Yield Program for EEA users. Crypto.com Exchange launched Commodity and U.S. Index Perpetual Contracts. In TradFi, Morgan Stanley launched a government money market fund for stablecoin reserves. Several other institutions advanced tokenization projects, including Japanese Government Bonds on the Canton Network and a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin infrastructure by a 12-bank consortium.
• Outlook on Key Projects and Tokens: Zcash (ZEC) saw increased activity, with Grayscale's Zcash Trust volume doubling and shielded supply hitting an all-time high. Toncoin (TON) upgraded its infrastructure and launched “Agentic Wallets,” enabling AI agents to manage funds. Japan's Rakuten integrated XRP as a payment method, and Ripple partnered with South Korean insurer Kyobo Life to pilot government bond settlements.

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4. Economic Calendar

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Research & Insights Team

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