Treasurys, private credit, and commodities are driving growth, but most tokenized assets remain isolated from DeFi markets.
The regulatory nod will let UAE-based financial institutions deal in tokenized equities on Binance's regulated trading venue.
Rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints, have sent shockwaves through global markets, driving oil price volatility, rattling currencies, and exposing vulnerabilities in cross-border trade flows. The Strait of Hormuz chaos could spark the XRP moment, and Ripple’s new financial era has ignited amid global oil turmoil. Crypto analyst Pumpius revealed on X that the Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the global oil flows, but the US and Israel strikes on Iran have slashed vessel traffic by 70%. According to coverage from Reuters and The New York Times (NYT), major tankers are suspending operations. How Ripple Positions Itself As A Payments Infrastructure Play This Strait serves as a critical energy lifeline for major Asian economies, including China, India, Japan, and South Korea, which rely heavily on the 70-80% route for crude imports. With limited bypass alternative routes, even partial disruption threatens severe supply shocks, and the possibility of oil surging past $100 per barrel becomes high, a risk scenario highlighted by Al Jazeera. Related Reading: Why XRP Retail Holders Are Positioned Ahead Of Institutional Adoption Pumpius suggested that this geopolitical firestorm could accelerate Ripple’s and XRP revolution. With the ISO 20022 adoption ramping up and the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on the horizon, Ripple technology could be positioned as the backbone of a new, resilient global financial order, bypassing chokepoints of fiat chaos. While the crypto markets held relatively steady over the weekend, the US open on Monday could unleash the risk-off waves. For XRP, this might be the catalyst for escalating a faster shift to digital assets. Why Dubai Is Quietly Building On XRP Ledger The growing adoption of the XRP Ledger by UAE companies is no coincidence. An analyst known as Xfinancebull has stated that Ripple is the first blockchain payments provider to receive licensing approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) within the country’s International Financial Centre. This milestone grants Ripple full regulatory authorization to offer cross-border crypto payment services in the UAE. Related Reading: XRP Ledger Positioned For Real World Asset Explosion As Securitize Teases $400-T Market With regulatory approval secured, major real-world asset projects are now building directly on the XRP Ledger. Billiton Diamond has tokenized $280 million in certified diamonds on XRPL, with assets secured by Ripple Custody and infrastructure support from Ctrl Alt. At the same time, real estate title deeds are being tokenized with the Dubai Land Department through the same pipeline. Meanwhile, the total real-world assets (RWA) have surpassed $2 billion. The UAE continued to prefer the XRP Ledger because Ripple already has the regulatory green light that other chains are waiting for. Ripple holds more than 60 licenses globally, including approvals from the DFSA, MAS, NYDFS, and the Central Bank of Ireland. Also, the regulated infrastructure tends to attract institutional flows; this is not theory, but what is happening right in Dubai. “From diamond today to real estate next, the rest is time, and XRP is really taking over,” Xfinancebull noted. Featured image from Render, chart from Tradingview.com
Dubai Land Department and Ctrl Alt move to the next phase of real estate tokenization project, enabling the resale of property tokens.
Crypto expert Remi has raised the possibility that XRP could have a base price of $10,000. This came as the expert noted that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) could become the go-to network for tokenization, boosting XRP’s utility. How XRP Can Achieve A Base Price of $10,000 In an X post, Remi predicted that XRP could have a base price of $10,000. He suggested that this could happen if the altcoin has a “United States Crypto price Floor System.” Notably, he made this comment in reference to a report on the U.S. developing a critical minerals price floor system. Related Reading: Analyst Shares XRP Roadmap To $10,000: What Happens With Each Milestone? Remi suggested that this could also happen for XRP if the U.S. eventually considers it a very important asset. Meanwhile, the expert also noted that the XRP Ledger will tokenize gold and Bitcoin, which would also boost the altcoin’s utility and possibly contribute to the base case price of $10,000. In another X post, Remi declared that all the critical minerals will be tokenized on the XRPL with XRP as the bridge currency. He reiterated that the altcoin could reach $1,000, $10,000, and even $100,000 once these begin to happen on the XRPL. It is worth noting that the XRPL is already seeing a wave of tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). Billiton Diamond and Ctrl Alt announced earlier this month that they had tokenized over $280 million of certified polished diamonds. Ripple also backed the deal, with the crypto firm providing custody services for this tokenization initiative. RWA.xyz data shows that the total tokenized assets on the XRPL are currently valued at $1.9 billion. The network ranks sixth among all networks in terms of tokenized RWAs. XRPL Gets New Upgrade The XRP Ledger has activated the Permissioned DEX, which enables compliant institutional trading. This is expected to further boost the network’s adoption, which is positive for XRP. Commenting on this development, expert X Finance Bull noted that regulated institutions can now trade on the network with vetted counterparties. Related Reading: Cup And Handle Pattern Puts XRP Price At $60 After Hitting Resistance He further remarked that this translates to compliant DeFi, on-chain order books, and KYC-gated trading. The expert also claimed that Ripple and its partner institutions have been waiting for this, and that the infrastructure is ready and the payment rails are open. X Finance Bull declared that this is how up to trillions of dollars will enter the XRP Ledger. He also mentioned that the CLARITY Act, being signed into law, will be the next bullish catalyst for XRP. Once that happens, he predicts that institutional inflows into the XRP ecosystem will increase. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.41, down over 4% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The South Korean financial firm backs the U.S.-based blockchain company to accelerate enterprise wallet technology and real-world asset tokenization.
Ultan Miller touts a blockchain-based pre-IPO index, while critics warn unauthorized equity tokenization risks legal and investor fallout.
ETHZilla unveiled a tokenized aviation asset, Eurus Aero Token I, offering accredited investors access to lease income from two commercial jet engines.
From treasuries and funds today to equities and private assets tomorrow.
Ondo showcases rapid growth in tokenized assets and unveils plans to turn that momentum into a full-stack on-chain financial services ecosystem at its summit.
The EU must fix its pilot regime now or watch capital markets shift permanently to the U.S., a group of blockchain firms warned policymakers on Thursday.
ETHZilla’s shift toward tokenization comes after a sharp downturn in its core crypto holdings.
Tokenized stocks grew nearly 3,000% in 2025 as new SEC rules and a DTCC pilot pushed the asset class toward the $1 billion milestone, led by Ondo and Securitize.
NYSE and Nasdaq introducing 24/7 trading with tokenized stock would be a "godsend," solving thin weekend liquidity, Ondo Finance President Ian de Bode told CoinDesk in an interview.
ETHZilla is betting on bringing real-world assets on blockchain rails after it sold at least $114.5 million of its ETH stash over the past months.
Crypto pundit XRP Queen has described an XRP price target of $10 as being too low, claiming that this target was from a retail investor’s perspective. She also suggested how high the altcoin could go from an institutional standpoint. Pundit Claims XRP Price Target Of $10 Is Too Low In an X post, XRP Queen stated that people predicting XRP price targets of between $10 and $25 are still thinking of retail price targets. This came as she claimed that Ripple has been thinking about global infrastructures. The pundit highlighted the firm’s moves, including its acquisition of payment and custody infrastructure. Related Reading: XRP Price Could Surge Another 30% If This Trend Is Confirmed Furthermore, XRP Queen noted that Ripple has integrated with banks, funds, and institutions, which she claimed is positioning the altcoin for real-time global settlement. The pundit also believes that the crypto firm has secured regulatory clarity where it actually matters, which is bullish for the XRP price. Lastly, she mentioned that Ripple is actively pursuing a full banking license, having secured conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). XRP Queen declared that Ripple’s moves are how one builds financial plumbing. “Systems don’t move in pennies. They move in orders of magnitude. Lock in,” she added. Regarding how high the XRP price could rise based on institutional targets, XRP Queen suggested the altcoin could reach $100. In an X post, she stated that people laugh at an XRP price target of $100 because they price it like a meme, but that institutions price the altcoin like infrastructure. As such, she believes the altcoin could reach these price targets based on its utility, especially as it gains traction as a token for real-time global settlement. Canary Capital CEO Makes Bullish Case For XRP In a YouTube video, crypto pundit Cheeky Crypto highlighted a statement from Canary Capital’s CEO, Steven McClurg, in which he said that an XRP price target of between $5 and $10 may sound like a lot to a retail trader. However, he believes that these price targets are a rounding error when one considers the trillions of dollars in liquidity required to settle global real-world assets (RWAs) at scale. Related Reading: XRP Wave C Push On The Way: What Could Send Price Below $2? Cheeky Crypto also highlighted McClurg’s statement, in which he said the XRP Ledger is already processing real financial transactions and boasts real-world financial use cases, which he claims are drawing institutions’ attention. Notably, the Canary Capital CEO had recently predicted that XRP would dominate the RWA industry, which is projected to become a trillion-dollar industry at some point. This could boost the altcoin’s utility as the XRP Ledger processes more RWA transactions, sending the XRP price higher in the process. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.95, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
After stablecoins proved product-market fit, crypto founders and executives say 2026 is when banks and asset managers will push tokenized assets into mainstream markets.
Ethereum’s outlook has been improving its case. After a prolonged period of underperformance and skepticism, the network is starting to exhibit signs of renewed structural and fundamental strength. While BTC continues to anchor the market as the primary store of value and digital gold, conditions are emerging that could allow ETH to outperform BTC over the coming period. Why The Ethereum Narrative Is Gaining Strength Ethereum has been seen outperforming Bitcoin. In a recent post on X, Walter Bloomberg revealed that Standard Chartered says that the ETH outlook has improved, and now ETH might outperform BTC, citing rising institutional demand and stronger fundamental positioning across key on-chain sectors. Related Reading: Altcoin Season In Q1? Bitcoin, Ethereum Breakdown Maps Out Performance While weakness in BTC has weighed on the broader crypto market, ETH has continued to benefit from institutional-driven demand, and its dominance in stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and real-world assets (RWA) tokenization. Standard Chartered also points to the increased throughput and potential US regulatory clarity that it could provide additional upside. In terms of valuation, the bank forecasts ETH at $7,500 this year and $30,000 by 2029, reflecting the expectations of sustained network growth. The Co-founder of PinkBrains_io, a DeFi Creator Studio, DefiIgnas, has highlighted that Ethereum could outperform Bitcoin this year, and the reason is roadmap execution. While BTC will likely keep facing recurring waves of quantum FUD into 2026, ETH has a clear roadmap to prepare for future cryptographic risks. Furthermore, ETH is actually scaling. Gas limits on layer 1 keep rising, and zkEVMs will get full production readiness, making ETH cheap and fast enough for high-value transactions, while layer 2s will handle most of the trading and high-frequency activity. Related Reading: Bitcoin And Ethereum Market Structure Points To Crypto Winter – Details These upgrades are incremental, which means there’s no breaking news moment for ETH, but progress is happening fast. Early in the cycle, a lot of Degens loaded up on ETH before the bull run, but many got disillusioned and sold their ETH for BTC. “It would be fun to see the playbook reverse higher,” DefiIgnas noted. A Different Liquidity Cycle Than Previous Bull Markets Crypto liquidity quality witnessed a change in 2025. A technical analyst and show host of Crypto Banter, Kyledoops, reported that Wintermute noted that capital in 2025 stopped rotating broadly across the market. Instead, liquidity is concentrated into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a small group of large-cap tokens. As a result, the long-anticipated wave of altcoin-wide liquidity never really arrived. Meanwhile, the rise of spot ETFs and crypto treasury vehicles created a new, highly structured inflow channel that funneled flow into the top of the market. These vehicles break the crypto’s oldest playbooks. Price action is no longer driven by broad market expansion. It’s driven by where new liquidity can actually enter. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
The blockchain lender's new OPEN platform hosts equities registered natively onchain, bypassing DTCC and allowing DeFi-based lending.
The initiative mirrors deposit balances on a private blockchain to speed up settlement and unlock liquidity.
A sharp jump in tokenized silver trading suggests investors are getting exposure to the metal onchain.
In a recent report, the data aggregator CoinGecko has unveiled the leading crypto narratives of the year, with the Real-World Asset (RWA) sector emerging as a major contender with notable returns RWAs Lead Crypto Market Growth The report highlights that RWA has become the standout narrative in 2025, boasting an impressive average price return of 185.8% year-to-date (YTD) across key tokens, such as Figure Heloc, Chainlink (LINK), Stellar (XLM), Tether Gold (XAUT), and BlackRock’s BUIDL. This surge in the RWA sector can largely be attributed to the performance of specific platforms. Notably, Keeta Network has skyrocketed by 1,794.9% YTD, while Zebec Network and Maple Finance have recorded gains of 217.3% and 123.0% respectively. Related Reading: Bitcoin Correction Timeline: Analyst Predicts Potential Bottom In October 2026 Current statistics show that the crypto RWA sector boasts a Distributed Asset Value of $18.88 billion, reflecting a 2.56% increase over the past month. However, the Represented Asset Value has seen a slight decline, standing at $407.93 billion, down 2.36%. For context, RWA’s approach facilitates asset managers and projects the digital transformation of tangible assets, such as real estate and commodities, creating a solid foundation for trading, managing, and securing these assets. Layer-1 (L1) solutions have emerged as the second most profitable narrative this year, achieving an average price gain of 80.3% YTD. The success of this narrative can be attributed to the performance of privacy-focused blockchains such as Zcash and Monero, which have seen rallies of 691.3% and 143.6%, respectively. Another noteworthy crypto narrative, “Made in USA,” is also on track to end the year positively, with average gains of 30.6% YTD, primarily driven by Zcash’s performance that mitigated the moderate losses of other tokens in that category. Top Meme Tokens Suffer Heavy Losses Despite their popularity, narratives such as memecoins and artificial intelligence (AI) have struggled this year, with average returns of -31.6% and -50.2% year-to-date, respectively. Leading memecoins in the crypto space, such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), have demonstrated the volatility of this sector by suffering significant losses of over 60% year-to-date. Similarly, the report notes that many artificial intelligence-focused crypto assets have recorded declines between 49.8% and 84.3%, with only Alchemist AI and Kite performing relatively better. Related Reading: Ethereum Fails To Surpass $3,000: Predictions For The Final Days Of The Year Lastly, the decentralized finance narrative faced a challenging year, experiencing average returns of -34.8%, which is consistent with the returns seen in the memecoins segment. The decentralized exchange (DEX) narrative has mirrored this decline with average losses of -55.5%, while layer-2 (L2) solutions have also struggled, recording average returns of -40.6% for the second year in a row. At the time of writing, the market’s leading crypto, Bitcoin (BTC), was trading at $88,960, having recorded losses of 10% year-to-date. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Pantera Capital's Paul Veradittakit shares his 2026 crypto predictions: RWA tokenization, AI security advances, a big IPO wave, and the shift to institutional adoption.
The Securitize CEO ground through the uncool years of tokenization while NFTs, FTX and memecoins soaked up the hype. With billions in tokenized assets, a SPAC listing in the works and BlackRock as a flagship client and backer, Carlos Domingo’s early bet is finally paying off.
The decentralized investment firm is using tokens and DAOs to give local communities direct control over energy and infrastructure projects in emerging markets.
A new DeFi model is providing football clubs with faster access to liquidity by converting future media and broadcasting revenues into tokenized, onchain assets.
Clearing and settlement company the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said a subsidiary had received a no-action letter to offer tokenized real-world assets.
The Tokenization Regatta aims to allocate funds and support to projects bringing tokenized real-world assets to the Solana network.
The DayFi protocol aims to turn electricity cash flows into a crypto-native yield product, bridging capital to new solar power installations.
Plume Network has received a commercial license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market, allowing expansion into the Middle East.