Rich by Coin

What will be the biggest theme for the crypto market this year? Experts say stablecoins will solidify their place within the regulated system, and the Real World Asset (RWA) era—tokenizing real assets on the blockchain—will come into full swing. A News1 survey of four domestic crypto research firms found broad consensus that RWA would be the talking point in the new year.

Korbit Research expects stablecoin infrastructure and RWAs to rise in tandem, noting that stablecoins’ integration into the U.S. financial system will meet regulatory compliance needs while satisfying institutions’ privacy requirements, making it a core growth axis. They also foresee RWAs expanding to include equities, with Korbit Research Center’s Kim Min-seung stating that on-chain tokenization of commodities (such as gold) and Treasuries is already well advanced and that stock tokens are likely to be legally issued in the United States in the future. The on-chain mainstreaming of stock tokens has been reinforced by regulatory moves, including a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to DTCC’s subsidiary DTC authorizing stock-token issuance; Kim added that, following the White House executive order and a virtual asset report, the SEC has signaled the financial on-chainization and that related regulatory and industry activity will continue.

Forpilus Research also highlighted stock tokenization as a rising theme within the RWA framework for the new year. Its lead researcher Bok Jin-sol explained that 2025 could be characterized by stablecoins and U.S. short-term debt tokens, but stock tokenization poses more complexity due to the variety of securities and rights such as voting and dividends. Nonetheless, large traditional institutions such as DTCC, Nasdaq, and the NYSE are already preparing to record, settle, and clear stock trades on distributed ledgers, and issuers and platforms are offering stock-tokenization services. With these diverse efforts, analysts expect stock-tokenization-driven RWA to be a defining driver for the crypto market in the coming year.