RWA Track Weekly Report: Hong Kong "stablecoin regulations" open for license applications, all parties actively layout

The statistical period of this week's newsletter covers August 1 to August 7, 2025. During this time, the RWA market has shown strong momentum in user penetration and the tokenization of stocks, with Hong Kong becoming the focus— the "stablecoin regulations" have officially come into effect and the license application window has opened. Chinese-funded banks, brokerages, and Hong Kong listed companies are intensively laying out RWA and stablecoin businesses, with frequent strategic investments, collaborations, and financing activities. At the same time, infrastructure construction continues to improve, project progress is accelerating, showing a clear trend of accelerated integration of RWA with traditional finance and Hong Kong's active bid to seize a global hub position.

Data Pivot

RWA Track Panorama

As of August 8, 2025, the total market value of RWA on-chain is $24.93 billion, a month-on-month decrease of 1.33%, with the overall scale remaining stable. The total number of asset holders is approximately 344,700, a month-on-month increase of 19.08%, with user penetration continuing to accelerate. The total number of asset issuers is 260.

Stablecoin Market

The total market capitalization of stablecoins is $258.250 billion, an increase of 4.96% compared to the same period last month. The monthly transfer volume is $3.30 trillion, a significant increase of 16.26% compared to the same period last month. The total number of active addresses and holders is approximately 39.93 million and 188 million, both slightly increasing by 2.23% and 2.96% compared to the same period last month. The increase is highly correlated, indicating a strong possibility of organic growth in active users. The leading stablecoins are USDT, USDC, and USDe, with USDT and USDC's market capitalizations slightly increasing by 3.29% and 3.78% compared to the same period last month, while USDe's market capitalization skyrocketed by 79.60% compared to the same period last month.

Tokenized Stock Market

The total market value of tokenized stocks is $374 million, a slight decrease of 3.05% compared to the same period last month. The monthly transfer volume is approximately $330 million, a sharp increase of 47.56% compared to the same period last month, showing characteristics of a high turnover rate. The total number of active addresses and holders is approximately 55,900 and 60,600, respectively, with a ratio close to 1, indicating strong user stickiness, with increases of 17.31% and 20.42% compared to the same period last month, revealing strong ecological growth momentum. The stock with the highest issuance scale is EXOD (self-custody platform Exodus Movement), which has reached $264 million.

Regulatory News

The Hong Kong "Stablecoin Bill" officially came into effect on August 1st. This is a licensing system for establishing fiat stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, aimed at improving the regulatory framework for virtual asset activities in Hong Kong to maintain financial stability while promoting financial innovation.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has issued the "Regulatory Guidelines for Licensed Stablecoin Issuers", which clarifies the various thresholds for issuer license applications. Certain banks are expected to be the first to apply for and obtain stablecoin issuer licenses. In addition, Chinese-funded banks, sandbox testing companies, large state-owned enterprises, and major internet companies are also actively preparing to apply. Brokerage firms will primarily provide services such as stablecoin trading, custody, and financing in the initial stage. As of the end of July, 44 financial institutions have upgraded to the No. 1 securities trading license.

Hong Kong may narrow the scope of its first batch of stablecoin licenses to three to four companies. Several Chinese banks with branches in Hong Kong and Chinese securities firms with subsidiaries in Hong Kong have shown strong interest in participating in the compliant stablecoin business in Hong Kong, involving stablecoin issuance, custody, and other services.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released a new staff guidance indicating that certain stablecoins may be considered cash equivalents. According to the latest guidance, holding certain stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar can be classified as cash equivalents if these stablecoins have guaranteed redemption rights and their value is anchored to another class of assets.

Despite the fact that the U.S. "GENIUS Act" prohibits the issuance of stablecoins from providing passive income to users through staking or depositing balances after it came into effect last month, certain platforms continue to offer users an annual yield of 3%-5% through "reward programs." Senate staff indicated that the act only regulates the behavior of issuers and does not impose restrictions on secondary market service providers.

Local Dynamics

A travel company has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with a licensed financial institution in Hong Kong regarding virtual assets. The two parties will engage in deep cooperation around three major directions: RWA tokenization, stablecoin payment applications, and compliant digital currency issuance. This cooperation also marks the first systematic exploration of the integration of cutting-edge digital financial tools such as RWA and stablecoins in the domestic travel industry.

A pharmaceutical company has officially signed a strategic cooperation intention agreement with a digital asset platform, and both parties plan to jointly explore the pilot project of RWA tokenization in Hong Kong, with "future revenue rights of innovative drug R&D" as the underlying asset.

A Hong Kong-listed company announced that it has signed a share subscription agreement with an RWA tokenization fintech company, conditionally agreeing to subscribe for some of the ordinary shares issued by it. At the same time, the company also announced a financing round, the proceeds of which will be used to support the group's strategic acquisitions and/or investments, as well as to expand the RWA tokenization program and other areas.

Another Hong Kong-listed company announced a strategic investment in a certain fintech company, aiming to support its Web3 technology and cross-border payment business, and to deepen its strategic layout in real-world assets (RWA).

The RWA registration and registration platform officially launched in Hong Kong on August 7, initiated by the Hong Kong Web3.0 Standardization Association, aiming to achieve a comprehensive service system for the digitization, assetization, and financialization of RWA asset tokenization. On the same day, three standards in the Web3.0 field were established, including "RWA Tokenization Business Guidelines", "RWA Tokenization Technical Specifications", and "Blockchain-based Stablecoin Cross-border Payment Technical Specifications".

Project Progress

A certain cryptocurrency exchange announced that it will launch new services in the United States in the coming months, including tokenized stocks, prediction markets, derivatives, and early token sales, with plans to expand its core trading application beyond the cryptocurrency sector.

The issuer of tokenized assets stated that a certain fund has paid over $62.5 million in dividends to date, with the dividend payment in July reaching $9.3 million, and it is currently available on multiple blockchains.

A licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Singapore will launch the first regulated fintech loan tokenized product in Southeast Asia. The underlying asset of the token is the receivables from a regulated P2P lending platform in Indonesia, with an expected annualized return of 12%.

A certain innovative yield platform has officially launched, combining real world assets (RWA) with crypto-native strategies. This platform utilizes an on-chain U.S. Treasury fund from a certain asset management company, achieving a new model of regulated on-chain yields.

A certain network opens end-to-end omnipotent infrastructure, creating a universal trading layer for RWAs, stablecoins, and digital assets, with a certain company as one of the first cornerstone partners.

A certain company has officially launched real-time Data Streams, providing sub-second delay price data for U.S. stocks and ETFs, including major assets such as SPY, QQQ, AAPL, MSFT, and NVDA. This data now covers 37 blockchain networks, supporting the creation of tokenized stock trading platforms, perpetual contracts, synthetic ETFs, and other innovative financial products.

A certain digital asset settlement network has officially welcomed its first batch of institutional clients. The first batch includes several well-known market makers, OTC trading platforms, and liquidity providers. The platform is based on U.S. Treasury bond funds, supporting 24/7 real-time settlement and "yield in transit" features.

A certain company has officially launched a new protocol called Encrypted Messaging Onchain, aimed at providing native compliance privacy and communication capabilities for real-world asset (RWA) scenarios such as real estate, stablecoin clearing, and cross-border payments.