Cryptocurrency
Are real world assets set to take market share?
The blockchain has seen many narratives over the years. Some of these have turned into actual use cases and continued with strength. But there is a new kid on the block, and they go by the name of real world assets (RWAs).
What are RWAs?
In simple terms, RWAs are tangible assets from the physical world that interact with the blockchain. The biggest assets being represented currently are real estate, private credit, gold and U.S. treasuries. But the ceiling for expansion is almost unlimited and this is certainly an area to look out for. It is reported that the overall Total Value Locked (TVL) for DeFi is roughly $38.8 billion, with a high of around $178 billion in November 2021, which illustrates a big potential opportunity for investors.
Real estate alone is seeing fewer complications in terms of process and is also negating the need for a middleman to see the deal out. Not only does it provide a more efficient solution but it is cost-effective too.
How do they work?
Like most assets, you can simply buy through a marketplace or vendor. RWAs are the same; the only difference is these are assets being brought onto the blockchain as opposed to being made new and this is known as tokenization.
In terms of formula, the price fluctuates just like most assets on the market, so if you were to buy a fractionalized piece of real estate, its price would change based on the market just like Bitcoin would. The choice of asset would depend on how this works as different protocols have different processes. Stablecoins as RWA would obviously be backed 1:1 by the U.S. dollar.
This means that you are just buying a digital version of the asset in essence and this is bound to you until you sell — similar to cryptocurrencies. If we take real estate as an example again, you would digitally own that property or at least a portion of that property depending on how much you invest.
The best part about bringing these assets onto the blockchain and being available to investors is that they can be fractionalized. For example: If Bitcoin was priced at $30,000 but you can’t afford it, you can buy a fraction of it instead. This is similar to how the price of gold works too, we have seen gold tokenized, and it is also one of the biggest tokenized assets on the market.
The tokenization of these assets allows a bigger pool for investors to choose from, providing more variety in their spread, especially when they are world-renowned assets such as real estate or gold.
How are they being accessed?
As these assets are on the blockchain, there obviously needs to be a way to access them. Luckily there are dedicated platforms to make this process as simple as possible. One that is truly providing a smooth process is Fluent Finance. They provide a two-way bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and distributed ledgers (DeFi) via their advanced stablecoin protocol. There are also some other RWA providers, such as Ondo Finance (RWA marketplace), Maple Finance (private credit) and Centrifuge (RWA marketplace).
Access will only improve as adoption increases and RWAs provide a new market for those still within the Web2 space to move over — especially with the added benefits provided in terms of efficiency compared to the current state of ownership.
In terms of accessibility for users, this essentially means that anyone in the world can access this without an issue, even if these assets are typically not available to them such as someone in a small town in Nigeria buying U.S treasuries. This allows for everyone to be on an equal playing ground with essentially no limits or restrictions on availability. This also allows for investors to diversify their portfolios due to increased financial instruments, enabling a better investment/savings plan.
Things to keep in mind
There are obviously many positives with the digital world and RWAs are benefitting greatly from this; however, there are some things to look out for when navigating them.
Market movement is one area that many may not monitor closely enough. The reason for this is that some RWAs are directly linked to their own market. Unlike crypto, in these markets, there isn’t simply a price to monitor your assets. If you’re invested in real estate for example, this could vary on economic conditions, interest rates or even the type of property which can also fluctuate.
So, understanding the market you enter with RWAs is vital due to the potential complexities that other asset classes don’t necessarily experience. A final tip for anyone looking to get into RWAs would be to understand the potential barriers such as regulation or fragmentation. We know that regulation is a problem within the Web3 space already but RWAs will add complications.
As for fragmentation, this is a potential issue due to fractionalization, in which multiple people own a percentage of a bigger asset and as a result, decision-making can be more difficult. But this doesn’t always have to be a negative, as the decision-making and overall process could also be more efficient.
Conclusion
As the blockchain space begins to grow even more, it is expected that these processes will become even easier to use, especially for new adopters who are entering this space as it can be a daunting process. This combined with new platforms and constant blockchain improvements, Web2 and Web3 integration will likely be adopted at greater levels, and RWAs will enter as a whole new market regime.
The added value from such efficient processes will be a massive factor in adoption levels — especially with the removal of the middleman that’s required with many processes within the real world and Web2 space (like with real estate, where it can take months to complete).
RWAs provide a whole new level of sustainability and could be a leading narrative in the Web3 space for years to come. It is certainly an exciting time to be involved and it will be interesting to see how it evolves.
The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.
Ilias Salvatore is the brand/product lead of Flooz.xyz — the easy place to buy, trade and track crypto with real-time data and alerts.
This article was published through Cointelegraph Innovation Circle, a vetted organization of senior executives and experts in the blockchain technology industry who are building the future through the power of connections, collaboration and thought leadership. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin achieved a new historic all-time high price in December. At the same time, analysts believe XRP is well on the way to smashing its own record, eclipsing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana’s gains in December.
In December, XRP tokens retraced 84% of losses from its all-time high price of $3.4 a coin in Jan. 2018 to a multi-year bottom of $0.16 in Mar. 2020. After seven years of turmoil in XRP markets, Ripple Labs’ cross-border blockchain settlement tokens notched $2.17 on Dec. 2.
After that, the asset charted a 30-day bullish falling wedge pattern with declining daily trade volumes. The bullish reversal of this classic technical chart pattern materialized on New Year’s Day. Ripple has already gained 26% since the turn of the year.
Here are six of the key supports for further price gains that XRP markets are counting on moving forward.
1. Musk Is Backing Ripple’s Bid to Cast Off The SEC
In December, the new D.O.G.E. advisor to incoming President Trump tweeted his latest broadside against the SEC. He made a very favorable statement about XRP when asked in October.
Shortly after the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans ruled the SEC broke the law (by endorsing diversity requirements for corporate boards), Musk tweeted:
“The SEC is just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work.”
It was a quote on a repost by pro-cryptocurrency Utah Sen. Mike Lee. The senator said, “The SEC is yet another “independent commission” that cannot be trusted.”
The SEC is just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work https://t.co/5w9ajcS6bf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2024
Musk’s post came shortly after a US Fifth Circuit Court ruling against the SEC in another case that bolsters Ripple’s argument that the agency is regulating by enforcement rather than policy.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse jumped on the repost train to second Musk’s description. “What he said,” Garlinghouse added.
What he said https://t.co/sHs1aLkf8Z
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) December 13, 2024
Earlier in Q4, at an America PAC conference, an audience member asked the tech titan, “Do you envision the XRP Ledger being incorporated into the financial institutions in the future.”
Musk replied, “This is definitely not an endorsement or lack of endorsement for XRP, but I do think crypto, by its very nature, helps with individual freedom.”
2. Trump Back in White House a Big Win for XRP
FOX Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino recently stated that incoming US president Donald Trump could put his thumb on the scale in the SEC lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
He made the comments to Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano on the Pomp Podcast. Gasparino said he expects the new Trump Administration to shift the SEC’s approach to Ripple drastically.
He specifically pointed out Mr. Trump’s Paul Atkins nomination for SEC Chair as a sure sign of a more Ripple and XRP-friendly Securities and Exchange Commission for the next four years.
Atkins is the CEO of a global consulting firm with clients in the cryptocurrency industry. Meanwhile, Trump appears apt to purge the SEC of anti-crypto commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.
The SEC’s case against XRP is arguably the most considerable headwind for XRP’s price. It represents the most serious ongoing threat to Ripple and the institutional adoption of XRP.
3. XRP for Oil in The Middle East and North Africa
Looking back on a milestone year for crypto and ahead to 2025, @Ripple remains committed to advancing the digital asset ecosystem across the Middle East and Africa. Here’s what we are looking forward to in 2025.
– UAE’s Crypto Leadership
The UAE is setting the pace for crypto…— Reece Merrick (@reece_merrick) January 2, 2025
Reece Merrick, Ripple managing director for the Middle East and Africa, shared a detailed note on Thursday about the #RemittanceRevolution happening in MENA nations.
He says the oil-rich Persian Gulf’s United Arab Emirates is currently leading cryptocurrency adoption in the Middle East:
“Remittances in MENA are getting a crypto makeover. Stablecoins are cutting costs & speeding up transfers—bringing the Middle East, South Asia, & Africa together like never before. The UAE leads the charge in financial connectivity.”
He predicts banks in the Middle East will “fully embrace blockchain” solutions like XRP in 2025:
“2025 will see MEA’s banks fully embrace blockchain. Look at UAE, KSA, Bahrain, Qatar & Morocco. Faster payments, tokenized assets, and stablecoin utility are rewriting the rules of banking. This is how we diversify & future-proof financial systems.”
The skyrocketing total value locked in real-world asset tokenization (RWA) platforms is a bullish indicator of the value of XRP as a tool for fast, low-fee settlement in international trade. Most crypto analysts agree this is one of the most important metas for blockchain going into 2025.
4. Markets Are Going Crazy for Ripple’s RLUSD
Ripple Labs launched its new stablecoin RLUSD on Dec. 17. That creates more liquidity next to the XRP pool in the blockchain ecosystem, so it’s likely to create more long-term support for XRP’s price in due time.
Stablecoins hold a 1:1 buying power peg to the US dollar or some other free-floating sovereign currency like the yen or euro. So far, the new stablecoin is already available on several crypto exchanges. Traders can use RLUSD on Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, Moonpay, CoinMENA, and Bullish, among others.
The sector was already so enthusiastic about RLUSD ahead of its launch that Ripple CTO David Schwarz had to warn against FOMO before the coins went to market. Interestingly, blockchain had minted most of the new stablecoins on Ethereum—some $52 million.
Ripple senior vice president of stablecoins Jack McDonald told CNBC the growth XRP has seen prior to RLUSD’s launch inspired the new Ripple brand stablecoin: “Part of the impetus for us wanting to launch a stablecoin is the growth we’ve seen specifically in cross-border payments.”
“As we’ve been using stablecoins more and more in our flows, that really piqued our interest that we should have our own native stablecoin that can be more cost effective and more operationally efficient to use,” McDonald added.
Bottom Line for Investors
Over the New Year holiday, XRP made a bullish reversal. Ripple broke out of a descending wedge pattern with declining volume.
Interestingly, the rally took markedly far less daily trade volume to retrace 68% of its decline from XRP’s record-high price on Dec. 2.
That indicates this market is far from the euphoria stage of this rally, with plenty of room left to the upside.
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Bitcoin calmed over the weekend after the recent roller coasters and its price now stands at just over $98,000.
Most altcoins are also quite sluggish today, but the weekly scale shows massive recoveries from the likes of ADA, DOGE, AVAX, and others.
BTC at $98K
The business week started on the wrong foot for BTC. The asset struggled to remain above $94,000 during the previous weekend but lost that resistance and slumped hard on Monday. As reported at the time, the cryptocurrency dumped by roughly three grand and fell to a monthly low of $91,300.
Many started to anticipate that the correction will endure and drive BTC to under $90,000, but the bulls intercepted the move and didn’t allow another such retracement. Just the opposite, bitcoin started to regain value and go through substantial fluctuations but overall managed to get out of its dire situation.
It spiked to $99,000 on Friday but was stopped there and pushed south to $98,000. It has remained in a relatively tight range over the weekend and now stands just inches above $98,000 after gaining 3.3% on a weekly scale.
Its market capitalization has risen to almost $1.950 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts is down by over 1% in a week to 53.1%.
Alts in Weekly Recovery
Most altcoins are well in the green on a weekly scale. Ethereum has regained more than 6% of value and sits above $3,600. Ripple’s native token is around $2.4 after a 9% weekly surge.
The biggest gainers from the larger-cap altcoins come from Cardano and Dogecoin. Both assets are up by double digits, with ADA leading the way following a 22% surge.
Other notable gainers include SUI, which registered a new all-time high, XLM, and AVAX. In contrast, TON and BNB are slightly in the red on a weekly scale.
The total crypto market cap has jumped to $3.660 trillion on CG after bottoming at under $3.4 trillion earlier this week.
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Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Bitcoin’s price recovered from the most substantial declines earlier this week that drove it to a monthly low but still struggles to return to six-digit territory.
With the weekly close just hours away, here are the potential risks the cryptocurrency faces if it remains under this coveted level.
BTC to Close Below $100K?
The last couple of weeks of 2024 were quite painful for BTC as its price dumped from its latest all-time high registered on December 17 of over $108,000 to $91,300 in days. The latter came on December 30 and marked the asset’s lowest price point in over a month.
However, bitcoin reacted well to this correction and now sits above $98,000. This represents a 7.5% increase since that low. On a weekly scale, BTC is up by 3.5% compared to the valuation last Sunday.
Perhaps the biggest factor holding bitcoin below $100,000 now is the ‘stiff supply wall’ that appears in its current levels. This means that a lot of investors have accumulated their BTC holdings at prices between $98,000 and $100,000, which essentially turns these levels into critical resistance lines, according to Ali Martinez.
#Bitcoin $BTC faces a stiff supply wall between $98,000 and $100,000 that is currently acting as resistance! pic.twitter.com/GrDNNATLgT
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 4, 2025
On the plus side, the same analyst outlined a highly bullish development for BTC, which occurred at the end of 2024. More than 48,000 BTC (valued at $4.7 billion at today’s prices) were withdrawn from exchanges, thus reducing the immediate sell pressure.
Over 48,000 #Bitcoin $BTC have been pulled from exchanges in the past week, valued at over $4.5 billion! pic.twitter.com/V1agc0EtCe
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 3, 2025
Where to Next?
Martinez believes BTC might retest the 50-day moving average, which is currently at just under $97,000. Although bitcoin is currently above that level, it needs to close there, which will be “essential to signal the end of the correction and confirm bullish momentum.”
#Bitcoin $BTC remains at a critical point. This might just be a retest of the 50-day MA before a potential move lower. A sustained close above the 50-day MA is essential to signal the end of the correction and confirm bullish momentum. pic.twitter.com/ppfEjfoJkc
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 3, 2025
The analyst told his over 100,000 followers on X that he remains ‘cautiously bullish’ because the cryptocurrency could be forming a head-and-shoulders pattern that might lead to an even more violent decline to $78,000. In his latest post, Martinez highlighted that BTC has to close above $100,000 to invalidate this bearish setup, which is currently not the case.
I’m cautiously bullish because for all we know, #Bitcoin $BTC could be forming a head-and-shoulders pattern that anticipates a correction to at least $78,000. This is why a strong close above $100,000 is crucial to invalidate this bearish setup. pic.twitter.com/2O1y3sEWgq
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 4, 2025
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