PANews’ latest RWA weekly, covering Oct. 9 to Oct. 16, 2026, said the sector’s on-chain market capitalization rose back to $39.18 billion, up 1.06% from the same point a month earlier. Asset holders reached 5.2637 million, a 16.3% increase. Stablecoins held a combined market capitalization of $292.4 billion, while holder counts and monthly active addresses moved higher even as monthly transfer volume contracted.
RWA and stablecoin snapshot
Data from RWA.xyz as of Oct. 16, 2026 showed total on-chain RWA market capitalization at $39.18 billion. PANews said the sector had returned to an expansion track. The total number of asset holders climbed to 5.2637 million from a month earlier.
In stablecoins, total market capitalization reached $292.4 billion, up 0.24% month over month. Monthly transfer volume stood at $6.44 trillion, down 17.75%. Monthly active addresses hit 59.09 million, up 2.35%, while total holders rose to 298 million, up 2.9%.
The three largest stablecoins remained USDT, USDC and USDS. USDT market capitalization increased 0.44% from a month earlier, USDC was flat, and USDS edged up 0.02%.
European regulatory moves
ESMA seeks feedback on tokenized collateral at CCPs
The European Securities and Markets Authority, or ESMA, published a consultation paper on whether and under what conditions EU central counterparties can safely and effectively use tokenized collateral. The paper covers digital twins of traditional assets, natively issued on-chain assets and hybrid models. It also raises questions around liquidation in a clearing member default, segregation of client assets and settlement finality.
The consultation runs through Jan. 15, 2027. ESMA said it will review responses in the first quarter of 2027 before deciding on next steps.
EBA names USDC the first significant EMT under MiCA
According to the European Banking Authority, USDC issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS has been classified as a significant electronic money token, or EMT, under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. The EU currently has 45 EMTs notified under MiCA, and USDC is the first to receive the significant designation.
Starting Nov. 12, 2026, prudential oversight covering own funds, reserve assets, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption planning will move from France’s ACPR to the EBA. The ACPR will continue to supervise governance, qualifying holdings, outsourcing and conflicts of interest. The EBA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services to strengthen cross-border stablecoin oversight.
Dutch central bank approves Qivalis EMI license
CoinDesk reported that the Dutch central bank granted Amsterdam-based Qivalis an electronic money institution license, allowing it to issue a euro-denominated electronic money token aligned with MiCA. Qivalis is backed by 37 major European banks across 15 countries, including BBVA, BNP Paribas, ING and DZ Bank.
The company plans to launch a 1:1 euro stablecoin in the coming months for on-chain euro settlement infrastructure. Before issuance, it still needs to meet remaining MiCA requirements, including publication of a white paper. Distribution is expected to happen mainly through banks, crypto exchanges and payment providers rather than directly to consumers.
South Korea, Brazil and the UK
South Korea proposes a wider scope for tokenized securities
South Korean outlet EToday reported that the Financial Services Commission set Nov. 11 as the deadline for comments on revisions tied to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act. The implementation schedule is designed to align with the laws taking effect on Feb. 4, 2027.
The proposed revisions would extend tokenization to traditional securities including stocks, bonds and funds, using a phased rollout. The first stage would cover private money market funds for institutional investors, private bonds, trust-based unlisted shares and publicly issued fractionalized investment securities. Public bonds and funds for retail investors would be opened later after initial market performance and demand are assessed.
Regulators also proposed a legal basis for approving over-the-counter bond exchanges aimed at retail investors and floated a KRW 100 million annual net purchase cap per exchange for retail users. Cash settlement through the existing Korea Securities Depository infrastructure would remain in place at the start, while on-chain delivery of securities using stablecoins would wait for further legislation.
Brazil’s B3 pushes tokenized stock platform to 1H 2027
Bitcoin.com reported that Brazil’s stock exchange B3 now expects to launch its tokenized asset platform in the first half of 2027, later than its prior target of the second half of 2026. In the initial stage, tokenized stocks will share the same order book, pricing and liquidity as conventional shares and continue to use T+2 settlement. Around-the-clock trading and instant settlement still require regulatory approval.
B3 also plans to introduce a stablecoin and apply to Brazil’s central bank for digital asset operating and custody licenses.
Bank of England says no rush on a digital pound
Bloomberg reported that Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said at the International Monetary Fund annual meeting that the UK is not in a hurry to launch a retail central bank digital currency, the digital pound sometimes called “Britcoin.” She said the path forward will depend on whether commercial stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits can deliver the same benefits associated with tokenization.
Breeden also said she wants UK companies to build successful pound-denominated stablecoins so British households and businesses are not left relying only on dollar stablecoins for innovative payment services.
Projects and institutions
HSBC and Ant Digital complete AI agent micropayment test
According to a press release carried by PR Newswire, Ant Digital and HSBC completed a proof-of-concept test for AI agent micropayments. In the test, AI agents could discover and invoke digital services on behalf of users and complete payment in a single step. Individual transactions were typically below $2 and settled in real time.
HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service, or TDS, handled settlement and real-time risk controls via an MCP interface. Ant Digital’s Anvita Flow handled service invocation and micropayment settlement. On-chain transactions were completed on the Layer 2 blockchain Jovay testnet. The two companies said the exercise was exploratory and not a commercial launch.
Ant International subscribes to ChinaAMC RMB digital currency fund
Ant International and China Asset Management (Hong Kong) said Ant International recently completed a subscription to the ChinaAMC RMB Digital Currency Fund and added it to its treasury allocation.
The transfer was initiated by Ant International at China Construction Bank’s Shanghai Pudong branch. Digital yuan assets moved in real time from Shanghai to Hong Kong, were then transferred into a relevant Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) account, and used to complete the fund subscription in offshore yuan. The transaction connected cross-border digital yuan transfers with offshore RMB asset investment in a single flow.
Morgan Stanley shifts tokenized stock timeline
The Block reported that Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy, said the bank now expects to support tokenized stocks on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, later than the previously announced second half of 2026 target. “The first quarter may be more realistic, because that keeps us in sync with other activity across the broader ecosystem, but the team is certainly building very actively,” she said.
BNY and Citadel Securities complete tokenized Treasury tri-party repo
In an official release, BNY said it completed a tri-party repo process using a tokenized U.S. Treasury with Citadel Securities, marking the first use of a tokenized asset on a major tri-party repo platform.
Citadel Securities bought a two-year U.S. Treasury through BNY on Tradeweb. The tokenized representation of that Treasury was recorded on BNY’s private digital ledger and settled in minutes instead of the standard T+1 cycle. Citadel then used the asset as collateral for overnight tri-party repo financing, with BNY providing cash.
BNY said it plans to introduce more digital cash and tokenized deposit functionality to support on-chain settlement and financing, and expects to extend operating hours for its traditional settlement platform into European and Asian trading hours next year.
Federated Hermes targets on-chain fund shares next year
CoinDesk reported that Federated Hermes, an asset manager with $911 billion under management, plans to launch its first on-chain fund shares early next year. The firm has partnered with digital securities infrastructure company Prometheum to bring blockchain-based fund shares into traditional brokerage accounts and financial adviser channels.
Federated Hermes has not disclosed the specific fund types or blockchain network yet, but Kevin Barr, head of digital asset products and platforms, said money market funds could be among the first tokenized products. Unlike prior tokenized products issued through third-party platforms, the company now plans to issue on-chain fund shares itself.
Alpaca plans prime brokerage in Q1 2027
Bloomberg reported that Alpaca, an API broker for stocks, options and crypto, plans to launch a prime brokerage business in the first quarter of 2027. The offering would provide financing, custody and securities lending for large institutional investors such as hedge funds and is aimed at financing demand created by the convergence of crypto and traditional securities markets.
Alpaca currently custodies more than $3.5 billion in underlying U.S. equity assets and supports tokenized products for more than 10 issuers, including Binance, Coinbase and Crypto.com. Its custody assets are about eight times higher than a year earlier.
Tokenized stocks and stablecoin expansion
Robinhood explores stock tokens linked to active ETFs
Robinhood Crypto said on X that it is exploring stock tokens tied to actively managed ETFs on Robinhood Chain with T. Rowe Price Digital Assets, part of the global asset manager with $1.9 trillion in assets under management.
Robinhood Crypto said the effort could become the first stock token of its kind if successful. It also said the project remains exploratory, and any launch would require legal due diligence, board approval from the issuer, disclosure of final terms and regulatory approvals in relevant jurisdictions. The company said there is no guarantee the collaboration will proceed or that any product will ultimately launch, and that form, timing and geographic scope remain undecided.
Bybit to launch mStocks with Mantle
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said during the “Make Your Move” global keynote that Bybit will work with Mantle to launch a tokenized stock product called mStocks. The product will be backed 1:1 by real-world assets, support 24/7 two-way conversion, and be available across all AMM liquidity pools in the Mantle ecosystem for trading through decentralized exchanges.
Bybit also introduced Bybit Direct Stock, which allows users to hold and trade real stocks directly through Bybit, with access to more than 1,000 U.S. market trading pairs and assets, while obtaining actual stock ownership.
Perpetuals.com seeks to use SEC innovation exemption
CoinDesk reported that Nasdaq-listed Perpetuals.com plans to run a tokenized securities trading platform under the SEC’s five-year “innovation exemption.” The policy would allow certain venues to trade U.S. stocks on public blockchains without registering as traditional securities exchanges.
The company is led by former FTX Europe executive Patrick Gruhn and becomes the second company after OKXICE to pursue the exemption for such a platform. Perpetuals has not set a launch date. Trading could begin as early as mid-November, depending on market data and compliance arrangements, smart contract security reviews and completion of other preparations, provided the 30-day public notice period is completed.
Standard Chartered, DriveWealth, SGB, Visa and Stripe expand stablecoin services
The Block reported that Standard Chartered launched institutional custody for Ripple’s dollar stablecoin RLUSD on XRP Ledger through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The bank is also working with Ripple and LMAX Group on a “collateral mirroring” setup under which RLUSD held in custody at Standard Chartered could qualify as collateral for some LMAX products without moving the assets onto a trading venue. The arrangement still requires final documentation, testing, regulatory steps and internal approvals, and no launch date has been disclosed. Standard Chartered had previously said its Singapore branch planned to offer custody for crypto assets, stablecoins and tokenized RWAs.
The Block also reported that brokerage services provider DriveWealth partnered with Ripple to integrate stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments and digital asset custody into its brokerage platform. The two sides will begin settlement services in Europe and later plan to expand to the U.S. The integration will use RLUSD on XRP Ledger. They are also exploring equity financing through Ripple Prime.
Singapore Gulf Bank said retail clients can use its mobile banking app to convert between U.S. dollars and USDT or USDC in both directions without sending money to a crypto exchange, and can hold USDT, USDC and other fiat currencies in the same bank account. The service is available 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday.
Visa said in a release that stablecoin capabilities in Visa Direct have moved from pilot mode to commercial deployment. Inyo Global became the first provider to put Visa Direct’s stablecoin prefunding function into commercial operation. Visa added that it launched stablecoin prefunding and payment pilots through Visa Direct in 2025.
Stripe said it is working with Plasma on a multicurrency stablecoin card designed to reduce unnecessary currency conversion and foreign-exchange costs in cross-border spending. The expansion will support the U.S. dollar, Brazilian real, euro, Mexican peso and Colombian peso, as well as stablecoins including USDC and OUSD. The infrastructure now covers more than 30 countries and regions and is planned to expand to more than 100 countries and regions by 2027. Stripe also said it plans to let cardholders pay from multiple currency balances and automatically select the appropriate currency at checkout.
Tokenized U.S. stock trading platform Maitong MSX has also listed spot and derivatives trading for GS, MS and WFC tokens.
Fundraising
Tether backs EFY Finance
Stablecoin issuer Tether said it invested in the seed round of Latin American financial infrastructure company EFY Finance to push adoption of USD₮ and USA₮ in institutional use cases.
Tether said the investment is intended to strengthen links between stablecoins and traditional finance and support EFY Finance in building infrastructure for stablecoin-based cross-border payments, account services and digital asset custody. CEO Paolo Ardoino said inflation and capital controls in parts of Latin America are making dollar stablecoins a tool for accessing dollar liquidity, while compliant infrastructure and banking connectivity remain critical for broader use.
EFY Finance currently offers on- and off-ramp services for USD₮ and USA₮, over-the-counter trading, wallets and payment cards, covering local settlement rails across more than 12 currencies and 17 countries. The company has a digital asset service provider license in El Salvador and serves more than 25,000 individual and business accounts.
Fission raises $10 million Series A
Fortune reported that tokenized fund liquidity startup Fission raised a $10 million Series A led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Circle Ventures, Borderless Capital and Ari Rubenstein. The financing closed in September 2026.
The platform lets investors connect digital wallets and reduce the sale process for tokenized fund shares from roughly 200 days to 90 seconds, charging fees for immediate liquidity. Its main customers are institutional investors, including hedge funds, crypto organizations and stablecoin issuers holding tokenized private credit or equity.
Multiliquid reaches $8 million in financing
The Block reported that Uniform Labs, the developer of tokenized asset settlement platform Multiliquid, has raised a total of $8 million across pre-seed and seed rounds. The latest seed round was led by Polychain, with participation from Strobe Ventures, CMT Digital, Metalayer Ventures, Generative Ventures and Circle Ventures, among others.
Multiliquid allows institutions to swap tokenized assets and stablecoins in a single atomic transaction and is already deployed on Ethereum and Solana.
PANews’ additional observations
The weekly also included several PANews summaries. One said Franklin Templeton executives argued in a podcast that institutional capital favors fundamentals rather than meme coins, that the industry is in a tokenization supercycle, and that the firm’s tokenized money market fund Benji has operated steadily since 2021. Stocks and U.S. Treasuries, PANews wrote, may be the biggest beneficiaries of tokenization.
Another summary said Stripe, Circle and Mastercard spent about $3.3 billion combined to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firms Bridge, BVNK and Tazapay, with the focus not on on-chain technology but on licenses, banking relationships and local payment rails. PANews added that raw stablecoin on-chain transaction volume is huge, but real payment volume accounts for only about 1%, while B2B payments have grown 733%.
A third summary said Samsung, together with Coinbase, Bastion, Solana and Sui, plans to launch USDC functionality in Samsung Wallet in the U.S. at the end of October. The rollout could potentially reach 82 million Galaxy devices and support USDC transfers as well as cross-border remittances to banks in more than 60 countries. Bastion will handle custody compliance, Coinbase will provide sub-custody, Solana and Sui will provide network support, and Samsung will not hold customer funds.