A joint report released by CoinShares and Token Terminal on Aug. 6 points to a sharp split inside on-chain finance. In Q2 2026, total DeFi deposits fell about 15% year over year, while deposits tied to real-world assets, or RWA, jumped from $2.33 billion to $7.44 billion, an increase of more than 200%. Over the same period, DEX spot volume dropped roughly 70%, but RWA spot trading volume rose about 220%. The report argues that the part of DeFi now shrinking is mostly crypto-native, while the growth is being driven by tokenized U.S. Treasuries, yield-bearing stablecoins, private credit, money market funds, gold, oil and equity-linked products. It also shows that RWA perpetuals have expanded quickly, with quarterly volume rising from $12.37 billion in Q4 2025 to $202.7 billion in Q2 2026. CoinShares said the shift suggests on-chain finance is not disappearing, but changing composition. In its view, tokenized assets are gaining traction because they offer settlement speed, round-the-clock liquidity and better capital efficiency, rather than relying on token incentives or a crypto bull market.

Real-world assets became one of crypto’s hottest themes in July, with on-chain value rising to a record $32 billion, up about 22% from the start of the month and above the previous high set in April. Yet the expansion in issuance has not translated into broad on-chain activity. Data cited from BeInCrypto Intelligence, RWA.xyz, Stacks partner Edgy, and DWF Labs shows that a large majority of tokenized assets are barely moving: more than 70% of tracked assets recorded no weekly transfer activity, while roughly 87% to 90% of the market remains outside lending, collateral, or other DeFi use cases. The gap is also visible across major platforms. Securitize leads in scale with more than $4.9 billion in tokenized assets but posts DeFi utilization of only about 0.7%. Ondo Finance manages nearly $3.5 billion across more than 10 chains and 168 integrations, yet its utilization rate is only around 2.7%. Maple Finance, by contrast, manages a smaller $2.3 billion but has more than $1.6 billion in active loans, over $22 billion in cumulative loan originations, and a utilization rate of 62%. The article argues that asset design, compliance restrictions, and weak market infrastructure are the main reasons tokenization has not automatically produced circulation. As the sector matures, competition is shifting from issuance volume to actual use, liquidity, and distribution.

A joint report released by CoinShares and Token Terminal on Aug. 6 points to a sharp shift inside on-chain finance. In the second quarter of 2026, total DeFi deposits fell about 15% year over year, while deposits tied to real-world assets, or RWA, jumped from $2.33 billion to $7.44 billion, up more than 200%. Over the same period, total DEX spot volume dropped roughly 70%, but RWA spot volume rose about 220%. The report argues that growth on-chain is no longer being driven primarily by crypto-native assets. Instead, the expansion is coming from tokenized U.S. Treasuries, money market funds, private credit, gold, crude oil, and equity index futures. Ethereum still dominates RWA-backed lending collateral with close to 70% market share, while platforms such as Aave, Morpho, and Kamino are taking in more tokenized assets as collateral. On the trading side, RWA perpetuals have gone from a negligible segment to a major source of on-chain volume in less than six months. The report also highlights BlackRock’s growing role in tokenized Treasuries and says the broader trend suggests blockchain is not replacing Wall Street, but increasingly serving as its settlement rail.

A busy news cycle from Aug. 6 to Aug. 7 brought a mix of crypto regulation, market structure, corporate disclosures, and AI-linked developments. Dow Protocol said claims that OKX Ventures had invested in the project were false and said a list of investors would be released this week without OKX Ventures on it. The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, decided to delay a vote on the Clarity Act until September, extending uncertainty around a major federal crypto bill. Outside Washington, Thailand confirmed a five-year capital gains tax exemption on crypto trades executed through Thai SEC-licensed venues from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2029. MetaMask introduced a self-custodial AI wallet that lets agents execute on-chain transactions within user-defined limits, and Wintermute registered a broker-dealer subsidiary with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA. The update set also included Binance Alpha’s AGT and AIA blind box airdrop, Cipher Digital’s sale of 1,619 BTC at a realized loss, a Chainalysis report on more than $30 million in violent robbery losses targeting crypto holders in the first half of 2026, Bernstein’s renewed $140 target on Circle, and several funding, hardware, and security stories tied to the broader AI sector.

Circle has identified the 11 institutions set to serve as founding validators for Arc, the layer-1 blockchain it plans to open to the public on Sept. 16. The group is dominated by traditional finance firms and includes BlackRock, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa and Circle itself. BlackRock is expected to bring its tokenized money market fund BUIDL to Arc, giving institutional investors a way to subscribe, redeem and deploy fund assets on the network. Circle is also working with DTCC on tokenizing assets held at The Depository Trust Company, though that link is slated for the second half of 2027. As Circle builds out Arc, the company is also looking for new revenue sources beyond reserve income, with USDC-denominated gas, tokenization services and related products forming part of that strategy as reserve economics tighten.

Circle, the issuer of USDC, has rolled out Arc, a purpose-built Layer 1 blockchain designed for stablecoin applications rather than general-purpose crypto activity. The company says the network is meant to fix several constraints it sees in existing chains, including volatile fees, probabilistic settlement, weak privacy controls for sensitive commercial use, and fragmented liquidity across ecosystems. Arc uses USDC as native gas and can also support other stablecoins through a paymaster model. Circle says its fee system borrows from Ethereum’s EIP-1559 design but replaces block-by-block adjustments with a weighted moving average tied to network demand, with fees denominated in USDC and routed to an on-chain Arc Treasury. The network’s public testnet launched in October 2025, while the public mainnet is scheduled to open on September 16, 2026. Circle says Arc is already in a private mainnet phase with more than 100 ecosystem and institutional builders. CEO Jeremy Allaire said in August 2026 that the testnet had processed more than 500 million transactions across nearly 3 million wallets. The company has also named a validator lineup that includes BlackRock, DTCC, Galaxy, Global Payments, ICE, Mastercard, MoneyGram, SBI Group, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Corporation, Visa, and Circle itself.

Circle reported 2026 second-quarter revenue and reserve income of $701 million before the U.S. market opened on Aug. 5, up 7% from a year earlier but below Wall Street consensus of roughly $713 million. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $143 million, up 8%, while diluted EPS was $0.18, above the expected $0.16. Net income reached $48.2 million, compared with a $482.1 million loss in the prior-year period, which the company said was largely due to a one-time stock-based compensation expense tied to its IPO in the second quarter of last year. USDC ending circulation stood at $73.3 billion, up 19% year over year, while on-chain transaction volume rose 151% to $14.8 trillion. Circle also highlighted new regulatory approvals, growth in CPN and Agent Stack, and the upcoming Sept. 16 public mainnet launch of Arc. On the earnings call, management said the Coinbase distribution agreement had been renewed on existing terms, discussed revenue sharing with Hyperliquid, and detailed ARC token presale figures, including about $242 million raised and roughly $180 million expected to be recognized as 2026 revenue.

Circle Internet Group reported second-quarter revenue and reserve income of $701 million, up 7% year over year, with net income from continuing operations reaching $48 million after a loss in the prior-year period. The company also posted adjusted EBITDA of $143 million, while quarter-end USDC circulation stood at $73.3 billion and on-chain transaction volume hit $14.8 trillion. The numbers showed that Circle still depends heavily on USDC supply and interest rates, even as growth in circulation slowed and net outflows appeared during the quarter. At the same time, the company used its earnings report to highlight a broader push into regulated financial infrastructure, including the Sept. 16 launch of Arc mainnet, an expanding Circle Payments Network, Agent Stack products, and new trust-bank approvals in the U.S. The market response to CRCL remains split. Morgan Stanley cut its rating and target price, citing slower USDC growth and rising distribution costs, while TD Cowen initiated coverage with a buy rating. Investors are also watching the proposed CLARITY Act and upcoming September catalysts as they assess whether Circle’s longer-term infrastructure strategy can offset near-term pressure on reserve-driven earnings.