RWA

As of January 7, 2026, Solana has become the largest blockchain by market capitalization for tokenized stocks, with tokenized equity volume on the network reaching $874.19 million. Across all chains, tokenized equity products now total $1.2 billion in market value, while Solana's broader RWA ecosystem includes $874.2 million in tokenized RWAs excluding stablecoins and a stablecoin market cap of $14.77 billion. Six SOL ETFs approved in October last year have attracted $801.3 million so far, and SOL was trading at $137.24 with a $77.4 billion market cap at the time of publication.

EDF has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with droppRWA to assess blockchain and tokenisation applications across Saudi Arabia's energy sector. The framework targets streamlined transactions, on-chain energy assets, and carbon credit mechanisms. EDF says it serves 41.5 million customers and reported €118.7 billion in 2024 consolidated sales.

On 7 January 2026, Deutsche Bank released research projecting tokenized real‑world assets to reach about $1.5–$2 trillion by 2030 and roughly $3–$4 trillion by 2035. The study says adoption will be gradual, with liquidity and regulation as key constraints, and suggests the United States could strengthen dollar dominance by leading tokenized market infrastructure.

On January 7, 2026, Archax said it partnered with Lloyds Banking Group and the Canton Network to execute the UK’s first Gilt purchase settled with tokenised sterling deposits. The flow used tokenised deposits issued on Canton and a tokenised UK Gilt from Archax, demonstrating interoperability with Lloyds’ traditional accounts.

Ripple’s ecosystem has drawn renewed attention in early January as XRP’s price rose 20% in a week to $2.25. The company expanded in Asia through partnerships with major Japanese banks, secured a $500 million funding round at a $40 billion valuation, and saw strong demand for spot XRP ETFs that accumulated about $1.25 billion in net inflows. Despite speculation, Ripple’s leadership maintains it plans to stay private for now.

Oil markets are entering 2026 in a holding pattern, with geopolitical headlines from Venezuela adding short-term stability but failing to change the broader supply-heavy outlook. The US move to redirect Venezuelan crude toward domestic markets has helped WTI and Brent defend key technical support near $56–$60, yet persistent oversupply risks and slowing demand expectations continue to cap upside, leaving crude prices compressed and primed for a technical breakout rather than a headline-driven trend shift.

On Tuesday, Tether launched Scudo, a unit equal to one‑thousandth of a troy ounce and 1/1,000 of an XAUT token, to enable smaller onchain gold transactions. XAUT is backed by more than 1,300 gold bars and has a market cap of about $2.3 billion, according to Tether. The rollout follows a year in which gold prices rose above $4,550 per troy ounce.

In a Tuesday announcement, MarketVector Indexes unveiled two benchmarks for stablecoin infrastructure and real‑world asset tokenization, while Amplify ETFs introduced TKNQ and STBQ to track them. The funds list on NYSE Arca and offer regulated, indirect exposure. Stablecoins total $308.6 billion and tokenized RWAs about $19.6 billion, with USDT near 60% and USDC around 24%.

On January 6, 2026, Tether announced Scudo, a unit of account for Tether Gold (XAUT) intended to streamline pricing, transfers, and everyday use. One Scudo equals one‑thousandth of a troy ounce to reduce awkward decimals and make gold‑denominated payments more intuitive. The company also introduced tooling for self‑custodial wallets supporting XAUT, other stablecoins, and Bitcoin.

On 6 January 2026, Vitalik Buterin emphasized that Ethereum's purpose is safeguarding individual sovereignty rather than maximizing speed or convenience. He urged developers to prioritize trustless resilience over polished UX and noted upgrades like the Merge and Fusaka in 2025. Institutional use is rising amid U.S. regulatory developments, and stablecoin transfers on Ethereum exceeded $4 trillion in Q4 2025.