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The Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization market is gaining strength as momentum builds across the crypto sector. With Bitcoin entering price discovery after breaking past $112K and altcoins showing signs of a sustained recovery, RWA tokens are emerging as one of the most promising sectors within the digital asset space. Recent data reveals that the market cap for RWA tokens has reached $60 billion, supported by rising trading volume and growing institutional interest.

This surge comes as investors increasingly seek exposure to blockchain-backed financial instruments that represent tangible assets, such as bonds, real estate, private credit, and commodities. The appeal lies in the ability to bring traditionally illiquid assets on-chain with greater transparency, efficiency, and accessibility.

With macro tailwinds favoring the development of alternative markets and demand for yield-bearing instruments rising, RWAs are poised to play a defining role in the next phase of crypto adoption. As capital rotates across sectors, many investors are watching the RWA sector closely for signs of explosive growth.

RWA Sector Breaks Out

As the digital asset ecosystem matures, RWAs are emerging as a practical and scalable bridge between traditional finance and blockchain innovation. Stablecoins themselves—backed by fiat currency or US treasury bills—can be viewed as the most widely adopted RWA use case, with trillions in annual settlement volume and growing integration across both DeFi and payment platforms.

According to the Real World Asset Watchlist, a leading media publication tracking tokenized assets, the RWA sector has just broken out from a long consolidation phase. A recently shared chart shows that the market cap has surged past the $60 billion mark, marking a clean technical breakout that signals renewed investor confidence and institutional participation. With rising trading volumes and momentum building across key protocols, the next logical target is the $80 billion milestone.

This surge is not only a price-driven movement—it’s underpinned by structural developments, regulatory clarity, and growing on-chain infrastructure that enables secure tokenization, compliance, and real-world adoption.

As capital rotates from highly speculative narratives to more fundamental and yield-generating sectors, RWAs are becoming the centerpiece of the next cycle. The current breakout could serve as a pivotal catalyst, triggering an influx of new products, capital, and participants into the space. If sustained, this could position RWA as one of the primary drivers of crypto’s transition from speculative to institutional-grade finance.

Altcoin Market Cap Surges As Breakout Gains Momentum

The total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum (TOTAL3) has just posted a decisive weekly breakout, now sitting at $938.6 billion. This move represents an 11.19% gain from the previous week, marking one of the strongest weekly performances of the year for altcoins. Price has convincingly broken above the 50-week moving average (currently at $798B), reclaiming bullish structure and targeting previous cycle highs.

This breakout occurs after months of consolidation above the 200-week and 100-week moving averages, both of which acted as key support levels. The surge in volume further confirms the strength of this move, suggesting growing participation from investors rotating capital into the altcoin space as Bitcoin leads the market into price discovery. The chart structure shows a pattern of higher lows, pointing to a potential macro uptrend resumption.

With key narratives like real-world asset tokenization (RWAs), DePIN, and Solana-based meme coin ecosystems gaining momentum, the TOTAL3 breakout could be signaling the start of a broader altcoin season.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

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An analyst known for making timely crypto calls believes that Ethereum (ETH) is poised to positively surprise investors.

Pseudonymous analyst Pentoshi tells his 869,800 followers on the social media platform X that he’s targeting $3,200 for Ethereum but notes that ETH can print new all-time high prices.

Pentoshi says the macro picture is changing for Ethereum in a meaningful way.

“You can see the narrative changing around ETH right now. And in my opinion, it will be obvious in hindsight. But most are too jaded.

In less than one month, public companies will have bought enough ETH to offset all the ETH that’s been created since the Merge.

It’s 1/9th the market cap of BTC, and takes far less capital to move. That capital is clearly coming.

It’s still very early for this trade. I don’t know if it will be today, tomorrow, or next month. But I think we are going to look back at what is right in front of your eyes and think, I can’t believe it was so obvious.

The amount of capital starting to flow into ETH, will lead to big moves. And all we have to do, is do nothing. Set the tribalism aside, set the past aside.

[Tom Lee] should be paid attention to, and the amount of companies he will onboard, and other retail users.

All you have to do is set your bias aside and look at what’s happening. Hate it or love it. It seems inevitable.” 

In a question-and-answer exclusive with the Global Money Talk YouTube channel, Fundstrat managing partner Tom Lee says that Ethereum will come back to life amid increasing stablecoin adoption.

“Stablecoins are being pushed by the United States government. Here’s the thing. Circle (USDC) runs on Ethereum. Stablecoins run on Ethereum. So as stablecoins explode, Ethereum is the backbone for stablecoins. So I think Ethereum is going to make a big comeback as well.”

Data from DefiLlama shows that the total Ethereum stablecoins market cap currently stands at $126.509 billion, up over $431 million in just seven days.

At time of writing, ETH is worth $2,615.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Shares of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) rose 43% this month, making the firm the top performer in the S&P 500 since it joined the index at the end of last month.

June’s run is already the stock’s best since November and caps three straight monthly gains. Coinbase’s shares reached their highest level since their public debut.

COIN hit a $382 high this week before enduring a slight correction, ending the week at $353 and seeing a slight 0.7% drop in after-hours trading to $351.

The wider S&P 500 index rose roughly 5% in June as geopolitical tensions eased.

Washington’s progress on the GENIUS Act, Congress’s first rulebook for dollar-pegged stablecoins, helped shift investor focus from trading fees to stablecoin revenue.

The bill brightened the outlook for Circle, whose shares hit a record high and saw its market cap near that of Coinbase this week.

Coinbase keeps all yield on USDC balances held on its platform and nearly half of other USDC income, equal to about 99 percent of Circle’s revenue, giving shareholders indirect exposure at no added cost, CNBC reported Friday, citing analysts including Citizens’ head of financial technology research Devin Ryan.

Trading, however, remains subdued. Average daily volume on Coinbase has drifted lower since April.

In financial markets, making assumptions based on short-term observations is a fool’s errand, as significant trends develop over months and years, not days or weeks. But as investors evaluate bitcoin’s role in their portfolios, the events of April are worth analyzing in order to understand the asset’s emerging reputation as a store of value.

Backdrop of volatility

The turbulence sparked by President Trump’s tariffs announcement on April 2 sent stock prices plummeting the following day, with the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 falling 4.8% and 5.4%, respectively. Bitcoin followed suit as the VIX Volatility Index hit levels not seen since the early days of COVID and fears of retaliatory trade measures prevailed.

However, bitcoin’s price began to recover sharply within days of the announcement, causing its correlation with both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 to fall below 0.50, before those correlations rose again as the April 9 pause on tariffs brought back “risk-on” mode.

Bitcoin’s correlations to traditional markets in April

Source: Hashdex Research with data from CF Benchmarks and Bloomberg (April 01, 2025 to April 30, 2025). 30-day rolling correlations (considering only workdays) between bitcoin (represented by the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price Index) and TradFi indices.

This short-term observation matters because it supports the changing nature of how investors perceive bitcoin. While some still categorize bitcoin as a high-beta “risk-on” asset, institutional sentiment is beginning to reflect a more nuanced understanding. Bitcoin recovered faster than the S&P 500 in the 60 days that followed the COVID outbreak, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. banking crisis in 2023, events in which it demonstrated resilience and a profile increasingly aligned with that of gold during stress.

These periods of decoupling establish a pattern where bitcoin displays its antifragile properties, allowing allocators to protect capital during systemic events, while still outpacing the performance of stocks, bonds and gold over the long haul.

Bitcoin vs. traditional assets, 5-year returns

Source: CaseBitcoin, Return data from May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2025 (CaseBitcoin.com)

The path to digital gold

Maybe more compelling than bitcoin’s longer-term returns are the long-term portfolio effects. Even a small allocation to bitcoin within a traditional 60% stock/40% bond portfolio would have improved risk-adjusted returns in 98% of rolling three-year periods over the last decade. And these risk-adjusted returns are markedly higher over longer time frames, suggesting that bitcoin’s volatility from positive returns more than counterbalances short-term drawdowns.

It might still be premature to claim that bitcoin has been universally accepted as “digital gold,” but that narrative, supported by its response to geopolitical events, is gaining momentum. The combination of bitcoin’s fixed supply, liquidity, accessibility and immunity to central bank interference gives it properties no traditional asset can replicate. This should be appealing to any investor, large or small, in search of portfolio diversification and long-term wealth preservation.

Bitcoin traded flat near $84,500 on Friday, holding its range as U.S. markets observed Good Friday.

With equities, bonds, and commodities largely offline, the crypto market offered a rare window into investor sentiment absent broader liquidity and institutional flow.

The muted price action followed a session on Thursday that saw sharp moves across traditional assets before the holiday shutdown.

Gold climbs, oil surges as macro signals diverge

Gold rose 1.74% on Thursday, bolstered by a convergence of dollar weakness and renewed physical demand.

As Reuters reported, Citi raised its three-month gold target to $3,500, citing supply deficits and increased purchases by newly authorized Chinese insurers. Physical tightness continues to shape the bullion market, with strategic allocations growing more common among state-linked institutions.

Oil registered a 5.04 percent gain after the U.S. announced fresh sanctions on Iran’s state-linked shipping firm, Sahara Thunder.

The Treasury Department’s move curtailed expectations of supply normalization, fueling concern over the availability of key Persian Gulf crude. The announcement came in thin liquidity, exaggerating price movements into the Thursday close.

U.S. dollar weakness further amplified both commodity moves. The dollar index fell 0.46% as the European Central Bank cut rates again and U.S. political uncertainty intensified.

President Trump revived speculation over Fed leadership by floating the potential removal of Chair Jerome Powell. That commentary, alongside renewed dovish pressure from Europe, weighed on the dollar and bolstered dollar-denominated alternatives.

Risk assets retreat on policy and legal uncertainty

S&P 500 futures dropped 1.1% before the close as traders de-risked into the long weekend. While cash equities were shut on Friday, Thursday’s sell-off was attributed to judicial and executive tensions over central bank independence.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling potentially easing the path for removing the heads of independent federal agencies. Combined with White House commentary about replacing Powell, futures trading responded with reduced risk appetite.

Bond prices were also adjusted. U.S. 10-year Treasury prices declined marginally by 0.03%, with a slight yield uptick. New York Fed President John Williams pushed back on expectations for near-term easing, noting that inflation data, particularly from tariffs, did not warrant immediate action.

The next scheduled release of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE index, on April 30 adds pressure to reposition ahead of the data, even as fixed income desks prepared to close for the long weekend.

Chinese 10-year government bond prices remained stable, reflecting Beijing’s plan to hold Loan Prime Rates steady. Officials opted to maintain current levels to preserve financial stability, especially as the yuan showed resilience amid shifting global trade conditions.

Bitcoin rangebound as volatility concentrates elsewhere

Despite the activity in traditional markets, Bitcoin’s response was subdued. The digital asset held its level even as gold, oil, and equities reacted to macroeconomic and geopolitical developments.

That divergence, while not unusual during U.S. holidays, reflects both reduced institutional volume and the absence of a dominant crypto-specific catalyst.

In recent sessions, Bitcoin has mostly outperformed macro flows, diverging from its recent correlation with equity futures and inflation-sensitive assets.

Traders are watching for holiday developments in the ongoing global trade war, which has seen Trump escalate via Truth Social over the past weekends. Repositioning may begin when CME futures and bond markets resume trading.

Until then, Bitcoin is one of the few live indicators of sentiment in a macro environment increasingly shaped by policy signaling and cross-asset volatility.

Mentioned in this article

An analyst at a prominent global investment firm says that economic retribution from China and the European Union (EU) against new US tariffs could end up supporting digital assets.

In a new thread on the social media platform X, Matthew Sigel – the head of digital assets research at VanEck – says that President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs will accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as a tool for the settlement of energy trade.

“China and Russia were recently revealed to be settling some energy transactions using Bitcoin and other digital assets – just as we anticipated. Bolivia also announced plans in March to import energy using crypto. And in Europe, French utility EDF (?Électricité de France) will explore using surplus electricity – currently exported to Germany – to mine Bitcoin.

These developments highlight how digital assets are evolving from speculative instruments into tools for energy trade and monetary realignment. In that context, the latest tariffs aren’t just an economic story – they may be an accelerant for Bitcoin’s role in the emerging multi-polar order.”

Sigel goes on to say that traders should keep an eye on the policies of the US Federal Reserve, China and the EU to better gauge the crypto markets.

He also notes the relevance of the strength of the US dollar and BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows. According to Sigel, if China and the EU were to retaliate to Trump’s tariffs and move away from the US dollar, it could boost use cases for digital assets.

“Investors should watch the evolving path of Fed policy: dovish shifts in rate expectations and rising liquidity are historically positive for Bitcoin. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is another key gauge – any signs of dollar weakness may support the Bitcoin-as-hedge narrative.

Bitcoin ETF flows and on-chain activity also matter: despite volatility, U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs are still net positive by ~$600 million year-to-date, with renewed inflows seen in late March.

And finally, any retaliatory steps from China or the EU – especially ones that bypass dollar-based systems – could accelerate the strategic case for crypto.”

Last week, Trump signed an executive order that imposes sweeping or reciprocal tariffs on a long list of nations, with the stated goal of protecting domestic manufacturing. The announcement rocked global markets, causing a sharp dip in digital asset and stock prices.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Eky Rima Nurya Ganda