RWA and Stablecoins Gain Institutional Momentum

RWA and stablecoins showed mixed market performance from 11 September to 2 October 2026, while tokenised finance gained regulatory and institutional momentum. RWA market capitalisation first slipped 0.75% to $38.53 billion, then fell 0.94% month-on-month to $38.55 billion. However, holders increased from 4.436 million to 5.018 million, indicating broader participation. Stablecoin market capitalisation rose from $303.35 billion to $294.04 billion in the later update, while holders and monthly active addresses continued to grow. Monthly transfer volume initially reached $7.03 trillion but later declined 7.67% to $6.82 trillion, pointing to weaker short-term on-chain activity. US regulators expanded the policy framework for tokenised securities. The SEC approved a temporary conditional innovation exemption for selected tokenised NMS stocks, subject to disclosure, record-keeping, transparency, circuit-breaker and volume limits. Regulators later explored one-time zero-knowledge KYC and the CFTC confirmed that eligible tokenised assets and blockchain records could satisfy customer-funds and record-keeping requirements. The ECB outlined three models for putting central-bank money on-chain. Europe’s Pontes project is also expected to support tokenised securities settlement in central-bank money. Adoption advanced across major financial centres. Hong Kong supported tokenised gold and other real-world assets, tested tokenised Exchange Fund Bills, issued about HK$20 billion of digital green bonds and used tokenised Hong Kong dollar deposits for primary settlement. HSBC named its planned Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HSBC RedCoin, initially targeting peer-to-peer and merchant payments. South Korea proposed expanding tokenised securities to stocks, bonds and funds, with implementation expected in February 2027. Institutional infrastructure also expanded. SWIFT and 17 banks tested tokenised deposit payments, while DBS, OCBC and UOB completed Singapore’s first interbank local tokenised deposit transaction. Ondo connected a subsidiary to DTCC Fund/SERV, DTCC invested in iCapital to explore private-market tokenisation, and Stripe-backed Bridge launched OUSD on Base, Ethereum, Solana and Tempo with support from more than 100 companies. DeFi applications are broadening the RWA market. Aave announced an RWA lending market on Avalanche, and Aave V4 launched an Equities Hub on Base, allowing eligible non-US users to use seven tokenised US stocks as collateral for USDC loans. Ethena plans to add tokenised equities to USDe’s delta-neutral yield strategy. Centrifuge launched a tokenised high-yield corporate bond fund with NYLIM. Funding also went to tokenisation and stablecoin infrastructure, including tZERO, Velocity, dtcpay and Fin.com. JPYC’s temporary suspension of Ethereum issuance reservations highlighted pricing, liquidity and mechanism risks. For traders, RWA and stablecoins remain a strong long-term adoption theme, but the latest decline in transfer volume, limited early lending utilisation, and regulatory, liquidity, liquidation and pricing risks create a mixed short-term signal. Near-term price action is therefore likely to depend more on broader crypto liquidity and risk appetite than on adoption headlines alone.