Bitcoin dumps, altcoins crash, but RWA tokens are laughing all the way to the bank.
TL;DR…
- Centrifuge Launches RWA Lending on Base: Users can now borrow against real-world assets using the MorphoLabs Protocol on the Base blockchain.
- Ondo Expands to Arbitrum: Ondo's USDy stablecoin, offering 5.35% APY, is now available on the Arbitrum network for DeFi yield opportunities.
- Tokenized U.S. Treasuries Reach $2 Billion: The tokenized U.S. Treasuries market exceeds $2 billion, reflecting strong institutional adoption in RWAs.
- Hong Kong Introduces RWA Sandbox: "Project Ensemble" by Hong Kong will test various asset tokenization use cases within a regulatory sandbox.
- RWA Sector Faces Market Challenges: Despite recent market bearishness, RWA tokens remain resilient, with average sector gains of 226.9% year-to-date.
The last week can be accurately summed up with the following two emojis: 🤑 and 😭(in that order).
Despite a strong start to the week with Bitcoin spiking to almost $65,000, the market is now in the red over the 7-day timeframe as $50 million was wiped off the total cryptocurrency market cap.
Most altcoins have retraced their week of gains and are sitting lower than when they started the week, alongside weak trading volume stats.
The RWA sector took a knock but has overall held up better than most during this choppy period.
Let’s see what’s going on, shall we?
Weekly RWA News Roundup
Pushed for time? Catch up on the latest happening in the RWA space with our weekly news roundup.
- Centrifuge Launches RWA Lending Market on Base: Users can now use the MorphoLabs Protocol to collateralize and borrow against several RWA assets on the Base chain.
- Ondo Expands to Arbitrum: The USDy yield-bearing stablecoin is now available on the Arbitrum network, allowing users to earn 5.35% APY on-chain from U.S. treasury bills.
- Tokenized U.S. Treasuries Reach $2 Billion: The market for tokenized U.S. Treasuries now exceeds $2 billion, reflecting growing institutional adoption. The total tokenized RWA market now sits at almost $11 billion.
- Hong Kong’s New RWA Sandbox: Hong Kong's "Project Ensemble" will allow an array of tokenization use cases to be tested in a regulatory sandbox environment.
- Boson Protocol Tokenizes $5.1M Art Collection: Boson Protocol and Superchief Gallery tokenize a $5.1 million art collection, bringing 85 unique artworks on-chain.
- Nazarov Predicts RWAs Surpassing Crypto: Chainlink CEO Sergey Nazarov predicts real-world assets will outgrow cryptocurrencies in value, driven by institutional interest.
- Colorado Church Plans Asset Tokenization: A Colorado church aims to raise $2.5 million for a chapel by tokenizing its assets, despite Satanist takeover fears.
- Compute Labs Partners with Plume for RWAs: The collaboration will bring tokenized AI compute assets to the Plume ecosystem, unlocking new potential revenue streams for participants.
The RWA space sits at the intersection between traditional and decentralized finance, and so developments typically require firms to build complete end-to-end solutions or form strategic partnerships with synergistic firms.
Because of this, developments can take longer than in some other sectors, since they involve navigating complex regulatory landscapes, ensuring compliance, and integrating diverse technologies across both traditional and decentralized finance ecosystems.
RWA Versus the Rest
As one of the hottest sectors in Q1 and Q2, many RWA projects are still up considerably YTD, with projects like MANTRA (OM) and Ondo (ONDO) still sitting at +4,589% and +636% respectively over the last year.
But as the market has tilted bearish over the last few weeks, many RWA projects have been to slough off some of their earlier gains.
Despite this, the sector remains relatively strong.
Per DeFiLlama’s narrative tracker, RWA tokens are the third best-performing sector this year, with the average RWA token up 226.9% in this time. Meanwhile, meme coins have absolutely dominated this year with an average return of 863.9%.
Got a thing for meme coins? Check out our most recent weekly meme coin roundup!
Narrowing the time horizon to the last 7 days, we find that the average RWA token is up 3% — outperforming most other sectors.
The sector is showing muted signs of recovery for now.
Moving Smart During Choppy Moves
The last week has been a topsy-turvy time for the crypto space, with many altcoins displaying higher-than-usual volatility.
This has left many investors and spectators frustrated since many traditional stock indices and commodities are hitting back-to-back yearly highs.
RWA tokens, like most altcoins, have struggled in recent weeks as Bitcoin dominance has climbed. While BTC is holding roughly stable around the $60,000 mark, the vast majority of altcoins are gradually losing ground to the OG crypto.
Overall, all 10 of the largest RWA tokens are down over the last 7 days, with MANTRA (OM) being the least affected asset.
During times like this, traders and investors often go searching for opportunities and wind up getting stopped out, liquidated, or caught holding bags that will never recover.
Instead, it’s usually safer (and a lot less stressful) to simply tune out the noise, sit on your hands, and wait for a clearer indication of market direction. Avoid leverage, chasing trades, revenge trading and other risky moves.
Adopting a longer-term view during times like this can save you a lot of headaches and prevent you from getting wiped out before the market flips bullish.
Which, if history repeats itself, could be in Q4, 2024.
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