Real World Assets

Compound Finance has replaced its leadership team and approved a record $52 million budget as it seeks to regain momentum in decentralized lending. The protocol is shifting toward institutional clients through real-world asset offerings, partner integrations and credit infrastructure built for traditional finance requirements.

Hyperliquid is handling record open interest and a growing share of global perpetual futures activity, led by real-world asset contracts. Yet revenue has declined for four straight quarters as builder-deployed markets capture a rising share of trading fees.

Ondo Finance is facing a high-stakes governance dispute after founder Nathan Allman’s death left control of his voting stake tied up in probate. Delaware court filings ask a judge to determine who lawfully controls the tokenization firm while competing claims over leadership remain unresolved.

BlackRock has introduced tokenized share classes tied to European money market funds with a combined $311 billion in assets under management. The expansion underscores rising institutional interest in using blockchain infrastructure for cash management and real-world asset transferability.

Real world asset perpetuals are expanding rapidly as traders seek round-the-clock exposure to commodities, equities and private-market themes. While tokenization remains a major institutional trend, market participants increasingly see perps as a faster-moving and potentially more scalable product layer.

Ondo Finance is weighing a potential acquisition valued between $250 million and $500 million as tokenization firms look for scale. The move comes amid strong crypto dealmaking in 2026, with infrastructure, payments, custody and institutional trading among the most active targets.

DOGE and SHIB have lost ground as institutional participation reshapes crypto market flows around bitcoin and other major sectors. The two leading memecoins now represent just 1.02% of bitcoin’s market value, a record low ratio that highlights the fading force of the 2021 meme-token boom.

Tokenized funds are increasingly being framed as tools for institutional balance sheet management rather than simply vehicles for always-on trading. The use case could help pensions, insurers and companies manage cash across accounts, jurisdictions and liquidity needs more efficiently.

Robinhood Chain has quickly become one of crypto’s busiest new networks, drawing heavy transaction activity, liquidity and nearly 800,000 lifetime active addresses. Yet the blockchain built for tokenized stocks is currently being led by memecoins, stablecoins and speculative trading rather than its flagship real-world asset use case.

Thomas Sy of New York Life Investment Management says blockchain could help asset managers build customized portfolios at scale. The view comes as stablecoin adoption pushes institutions toward tokenized investment products that can provide yield.

New York Life Investment Management has launched its first tokenized fund in partnership with Centrifuge. The product puts a U.S. high-yield corporate bond strategy onchain with subscriptions and redemptions settled in USDC.

Tether is expanding the utility of its bullion holdings by enabling borrowing against Tether Gold, or XAUT, through crypto lender Ledn. The move mirrors bitcoin-backed lending and could open a new stream of liquidity for gold holders without forcing a sale.

Securitize is preparing to go public through a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed SPAC merger that could raise about $400 million. The BlackRock-backed tokenization firm is set to list on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker SECZ if shareholders approve the deal.

Securitize is preparing for a public debut through a merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed SPAC, with the deal expected to close on July 1 pending shareholder approval. The listing would place the tokenization firm on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SECZ.

Longtime crypto skeptic Nouriel Roubini has co-authored a whitepaper for USAFi, a tokenized investment product tied to the Atlas America Fund ETF. The project is expected to launch under Dubai's VARA framework in the third quarter of 2026.

Ventuals, the team behind OpenAI and Anthropic perpetual markets on Hyperliquid, is shutting down those markets and joining another ecosystem project. Trading has already halted and the contracts have settled.

Fidelity rolls out its Digital Interest Token on Ethereum, surpassing $200M. Ondo Finance emerges as the primary holder, fueling the $7.5B tokenized U.S. Treasuries boom.

HSBC has introduced the HSBC Gold Token, the first blockchain-based real-world asset tailored for retail investors in Hong Kong. This milestone offering, available through HSBC's digital channels, signifies the bank's proactive stance in embracing digital assets within a regulated framework.

Meld, a Lithuania-licensed crypto bank, joins forces with DeFi platform Swarm Markets to offer tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) to retail investors.