RWA

Global Settlement Network announced a pilot to tokenize eight government-contracted water treatment sites in Jakarta, according to a Wednesday statement. The plan aims to raise up to $35 million for upgrades and to test rupiah‑stablecoin settlement rails, with a target to scale to $200 million in tokenized assets across Southeast Asia over the next 12 months.

On 14 January 2026, Figure Technology Solutions detailed plans for its On-Chain Public Equity Network (OPEN), a system where companies issue native blockchain-based shares instead of tokenized representations. Built on the Provenance blockchain, OPEN lets investors hold, trade, and lend equity directly via digital wallets while reducing traditional intermediaries and targeting use cases such as crypto-heavy public companies seeking tighter alignment with underlying asset values.

Canary Capital's Hedera-linked HBR ETF on Nasdaq attracted $817.77K in new inflows after six sessions without income and one outflow day of $1.71M. Since its October 29, 2025 launch, the spot ETF has accumulated $85.65 million in net flows, while HBAR trades near $0.10 support and eyes the $0.145 resistance level last seen in December 2025.

On January 14, 2026, CEO John Patrick Mullin said Mantra will reduce headcount and shift to a lean operating model after months of pressure stemming from OM’s severe drawdown. Teams in business development, marketing, HR and support are most affected, while the firm prioritizes capital efficiency and RWA execution alongside measures like a 150 million OM burn and buybacks.

Standard Chartered has published a new Ethereum outlook, calling for ETH to reach $7,500 by end-2026 and $30,000 by 2029. The bank also expects Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin through 2026, with the $30,000 level implying about a 790% gain from $3,371 and a market cap near $3.6 trillion under minimal BTC growth.

Tokenized gold surged in 2025, contributing around 25% of net RWA growth as market capitalization rose from roughly $1.6 billion to $4.4 billion. Trading volume reached $178 billion for the year, with Q4 exceeding $126 billion and surpassing the combined activity of five leading gold ETFs.

Gold and silver are surging in early 2026 as investors rotate aggressively into hard assets amid falling real yields, record central-bank buying, and persistent uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy and geopolitics. Gold has broken above $4,600 per ounce for the first time, while silver has accelerated past $83–$85, confirming that the current rally is a structural repricing, not a short-lived reaction to headlines.

World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance venture linked to the Trump family, has launched its World Liberty Markets onchain lending platform centered on the USD1 stablecoin and WLFI governance token. The platform allows users to borrow and lend major crypto assets, while the company also pursues a U.S. national trust bank charter and evaluates adding tokenized real-world assets as collateral amid a broader rebound in DeFi credit activity.

Commodities opened 2026 with strong momentum, led by record-setting metals, firmer oil prices, and softer agricultural markets. Gold broke above $4,600 on safe-haven demand and central bank buying, silver surged on industrial and defensive use, and copper remained elevated amid structural supply shortages. Oil edged higher on Middle East supply risks, while grains lagged after bearish USDA data. Against this backdrop, crypto platforms like BingX launched TradFi trading, allowing investors to access commodities alongside crypto as volatility and cross-market interest build early in the year.

On January 12, 2026, Arthur Azizov analyzes perpetual futures, noting they comprised roughly 68% of Bitcoin trading volume in 2025. He explains how funding rates, unified collateral and shared risk engines are pushing perps toward core market infrastructure, while warning that liquidation cascades and collateral mispricing still pose systemic risks. Azizov proposes dynamic limits, transparent insurance and tiered margin frameworks to strengthen trust.