Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, data shows the tokenized real-world asset market has increased by more than 420% since the start of 2025. A Bitso report shows shifting user behavior as dollar-linked stablecoins gain traction for everyday financial use across Latin America’s inflation-hit economies and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) signed off rules to let UK funds keep registers onchain and add a new Direct‑to‑Fund dealing model, aiming to simplify tokenized funds inside the existing regime.

Tokenized RWA market grows 420% since 2025 on regulatory clarity, access

The size of the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has increased by more than 420% since the start of 2025, as investors were treated to easier market access and regulatory clarity, according to analysts.

The RWA market cap was about $5.8 billion on Jan. 1, 2025, but has since risen to more than $30.2 billion as of Wednesday, according to analytics platform RWA.xyz. Tokenized US Treasurys experienced the largest increase, from $3.9 billion at the start of 2025 to more than $15 billion, followed by commodities.

Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told Cointelegraph the surge in the RWA sector was driven by tokenized Treasurys, which offer compliant onchain access to real-world yield and effectively turn blockchain rails into a distribution layer for institutional capital.

The RWA market capitalization was around $30.2 billion as of Wednesday. Source: RWA.xyz

Regulatory clarity through legislation such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has also helped attract institutional players and fresh capital to the RWA sector, according to a Thursday report from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko.

Tokenization has been one of the drivers of institutional interest in blockchain and crypto over the past year. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest predicts digital assets could grow into a $28 trillion market by 2030, with Bitcoin, decentralized finance, stablecoins and tokenized RWAs as key drivers.

Stablecoins overtake Bitcoin in Latin America crypto purchases — Bitso

Digital asset adoption in Latin America is evolving, with more users now converting funds into stablecoins than into Bitcoin — a shift that reflects growing pressure from local economic conditions.

According to Bitso’s 2025 report on crypto adoption in Latin America, 40% of crypto purchases in 2025 were US dollar-linked stablecoins such as Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC), while Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for 18%. The report marks the first time stablecoin purchases have surpassed Bitcoin in the region.

The findings are based on data from Bitso’s nearly 10 million retail users across its exchange platform.

The trend reflects a broader move toward what the Latin American crypto exchange described as “digital dollarization.” In countries facing persistent inflation, currency depreciation and limited access to traditional banking, stablecoins offer a relatively accessible way to store value and transact in US dollar equivalents.

The most purchased assets in 2025 across Latin America. Source: Bitso

UK regulator clears path for tokenized funds within existing rules

The UK's financial regulator has signed off on new rules and guidance for tokenized funds, aiming to make it easier for asset managers to use blockchains within the existing fund regime rather than in separate experimental structures.

In a Thursday policy statement, PS26/7, the FCA said tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could make fund management more efficient and that it wants to “support innovation in the UK asset management sector,” as part of a digital assets roadmap first outlined in a January 2025 letter to the prime minister.

The changes give firms a clearer path to integrate blockchain into regulated fund operations, as policymakers seek to modernize market infrastructure without altering existing investor protection frameworks, and reflect a broader push to bring tokenized finance into the regulatory perimeter rather than allowing it to develop in parallel systems.

PS26/7 allows firms to run investor records on DLT using the industry “Blueprint” model, confirming that onchain transaction records can serve as the primary books for unit deals without requiring a full off-chain duplicate, provided “appropriate resiliency plans” are in place.

The FCA said the Blueprint has already been used to authorize the first tokenized UK undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), and that authorized funds can maintain their register on public DLT networks if controls meet its standards, including issuing units across multiple blockchains as long as investors’ rights and charges remain consistent.

FCA guidance for fund tokenization. Source: FCA