Stablecoins, RWA, and DeFi: The Triple Catalysts for Reassessing ETH Value

Recently, the performance of cryptocurrency stocks has been good, prompting investors to think about several key issues, including the source of market increments after the stablecoin bill passes, the reasons for the surge in Ethereum-related concept stocks, the relationship between RWA and Ethereum, and the logic behind the long-term optimism for ETH. This article will conduct a systematic analysis from the underlying logic and long-term perspective.

The rise in ETH prices is not driven by individual institutions, but rather a collective choice of mainstream institutions as they reshape their strategies; the critical point of trend change is about to arrive.

1. Data Insights

The total market value of stablecoins has reached a historic high of $258.3 billion. The U.S. "Genius" bill has passed the Senate vote and is now entering the House stage. The Hong Kong "Stablecoin Regulation" has been passed and will take effect on August 1. The U.S. Treasury Secretary predicts that if the stablecoin bill is passed, its market value will exceed $2 trillion in the coming years.

Asset tokenization ( RWA ) market has grown from 5.2 billion dollars in 2023 to currently 24.3 billion dollars, an increase of 460%. According to industry forecasts, by 2030-2034, 10%-30% of global assets may be tokenized, reaching a scale of 40-120 trillion dollars, expanding more than 1000 times compared to the current level.

Mainstream institutions actively布局RWA业务:

• BlackRock BUIDL Fund: A blockchain-based tokenized US dollar-pegged fund, AUM $2.86 billion, 95% deployed on Ethereum.

• Securitize: Collaborating with multiple traditional financial institutions to issue tokenized products, with a market value of $3.7 billion, 80% deployed on ETH.

• Franklin Templeton BENJI Fund: tokenized fund, AUM 743 million USD, 10% deployed on Ethereum.

These institutions adopting the wave marks the culmination of years of infrastructure construction finally achieving large-scale deployment.

2. Re-examining RWA

RWA(Real-World Assets) refers to the digitization of real-world assets through blockchain technology and mapping them as tokens or assets on the blockchain. Broadly, it includes the on-chain and tokenization of any assets beyond blockchain-native assets.

Tokenization has the following structural advantages:

1. Programmability: Achieving asset management automation through smart contracts.

2. Settlement Revolution: Achieving instant peer-to-peer settlements, improving efficiency and reducing risks.

3. Liquidity Revolution: Standardizing low liquidity assets to enhance liquidity.

4. Global Accessibility: Breaking geographical barriers to expand the investor base.

The main tokenized assets currently include:

• Private Credit: Largest RWA sector, with a scale of 14.3 billion USD.
• Treasury Bonds: Traditional institutional tokenization starting point, with a scale of 7.4 billion USD.
• Stocks: Kraken, Bybit, and others have launched tokenized stock trading.
• Product: Mainly gold, Paxos Gold has a market capitalization of approximately $850 million.
• Private equity: Actively exploring, can solve liquidity issues.

3. Stablecoin-RWA-Decentralized Finance Ecosystem Integration

Stablecoins are a key foundation for traditional finance integrating onto the chain, enabling programmability and decentralization of currency. The rapid development of RWA benefits from institutional compliance exploration. After a large number of assets are on the chain, DeFi will play a crucial role in driving a new round of ecological prosperity.

RWA and DeFi Integration Cases:

1. Securitize connects DeFi through sTokens:

   • BlackRock BUIDL integrates with the Euler lending protocol
   • Apollo ACRED integrates with the Morpho lending protocol

2. Ethena's USDtb integration BUIDL achieves stable income floor

4. ETH Becomes a Mainstream Choice for Institutions

ETH is currently the main public chain for institutional asset tokenization, accounting for 58.41%. The three main reasons institutions choose ETH are:

1. Highest security and stability
2. Mature Decentralized Finance ecosystem and liquidity
3. Highly decentralized and global business reach capability

Etherealize believes that ETH is "digital oil", providing power, collateral, and reserves for the new financial system. As a multifunctional asset, the value of ETH is difficult to assess using traditional methods and should be viewed from the perspective of strategic reserves and utility.

The ETH repricing process is accelerating:

1. Institutional demand surges
2. The demand for native crypto yield accelerates
3. Strategic accumulation of ETH
4. ETH becomes an institutional funding asset

In summary, while ETH is not the only long-term choice for institutions, it is currently the optimal solution for large-scale asset on-chain. Data, cases, and underlying logic all show an increasingly obvious trend of ETH being revalued.