RWA Weekly: Ctrip's overseas version launches stablecoin payments; Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla transitions to RWA business.

Highlights of this episode

This week's weekly report covers the period from December 19th to December 26th, 2025. This week, the total on-chain market capitalization of RWA steadily increased to $19.04 billion, with the number of holders exceeding 590,000, demonstrating continued growth momentum. Meanwhile, the total market capitalization of stablecoins nearly stagnated after approaching $300 billion, further highlighting the characteristic of diminishing activity—an expansion in the holder base coupled with shrinking on-chain activity. Global regulatory frameworks continue to advance: the US is considering providing a tax safe haven for stablecoins, Japan plans to promote the on-chain issuance of local government bonds, and China, South Korea, Ghana, and other countries are accelerating their deployments in the digital currency and stablecoin fields. Domestic institutions' overseas branches are gradually exploring application scenarios such as digital RMB and stablecoin deposits and payments: ICBC's Singapore branch piloted digital RMB overseas wallet deposits, and Ctrip's overseas version integrated stablecoin payments, showing the accelerated implementation of stablecoins in cross-border settlements and tourism consumption scenarios. Meanwhile, Ethereum DAT company ETHZilla shifted its business focus to RWA tokenization, reflecting a market transition from asset holding to value creation.

Data Perspective

RWA Track Panorama

According to the latest data disclosed by RWA.xyz, as of December 26, 2025, the total market capitalization of RWA on-chain reached US$19.04 billion, a slight increase of 4.09% compared to the same period last month, maintaining a steady growth rate; the total number of asset holders increased to approximately 593,900, a strong increase of 7.72% compared to the same period last month, indicating a continued expansion of the investor base.

Stablecoin Market

The total market capitalization of stablecoins reached $298.56 billion, a slight increase of 0.36% month-over-month, with growth nearing stagnation and entering a plateau phase. Monthly transaction volume contracted to $6.08 trillion, a slight decrease of 0.23% month-over-month. The total number of monthly active addresses decreased to 44.43 million, a slight decrease of 1.04% month-over-month. The total number of holders steadily increased to approximately 213 million, a slight increase of 4.33% month-over-month. The divergence between these two figures has reached a peak, indicating a significant divergence between the passive expansion of the holder base and the overall contraction of on-chain economic activity. New holders are likely mainly long-term holders or low-activity accounts, while payment settlement and transaction demand continue to weaken, highlighting the inflection point of declining activity. The leading stablecoins are USDT, USDC, and USDS. Among them, USDT's market capitalization increased slightly by 1.39% month-over-month; USDC's market capitalization decreased slightly by 1.34% month-over-month; and USDS's market capitalization increased by 2.99% month-over-month.

Regulatory news

The US House of Representatives is considering establishing a tax safe harbor for stablecoins and crypto asset pledging, and clarifying the tax system's definition.

According to Zhitong Finance, bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives are working together to draft a cryptocurrency tax framework that would provide a safe harbor for some stablecoin transactions and defer taxation on rewards earned through verifying blockchain transactions. While broader digital asset regulatory legislation is still under negotiation, the cryptocurrency industry remains urging for legislation to clarify the tax treatment of digital assets. Ohio Republican Representative Max Miller and Nevada Democratic Representative Steven Horsford have responded to these calls by drafting a bill to align cryptocurrency taxation with traditional securities. The draft, which includes the bill's text and policy objectives, proposes exempting transactions of regulated stablecoins with a long-term value between $0.99 and $1.01 from capital gains tax. The proposal also attempts to establish safe harbor rules for the allocation and processing of rewards earned through staking and mining, which involve verifying blockchain transactions. The draft also includes cryptocurrencies in a tax system that covers securities transactions and some commodity transactions. Capital gains tax exemptions enjoyed by foreign investors trading securities through domestic third parties and by securities lenders will also apply to digital assets.

The Japanese government plans to promote the issuance of local government bonds "on-chain," and may submit relevant legislation in 2026.

According to Nikkei, the Japanese government plans to submit a bill in 2026 to promote the digital securitization of local government bonds using blockchain technology. This initiative aims to enable rapid, intermediary-free issuance and settlement of bonds, and to provide real-time access to investor information. Possible solutions include using local bank stablecoins to pay interest and granting investors the right to use local facilities, balancing monetary, incentive, and social returns, potentially opening a new path for low-cost local government financing.

The Bank of Korea plans to launch its second round of CBDC testing.

According to Decenter, the Bank of Korea recently sent a formal document to major banks regarding the second round of CBDC testing. A Bank of Korea official stated that details, including specific methods and timelines, are currently under discussion.

The second round of testing is considering distributing some government subsidies in the form of digital currency. The aim is to use a CBDC to limit the use of subsidies and reduce the administrative and management costs associated with subsidy distribution. The Bank of Korea previously launched a three-month CBDC pilot program in April with seven participating banks, but subsequently suspended the project. At the time, the pilot program was criticized for its limited practical value and the billions of won in costs it imposed on participating banks.

Ghana plans to explore gold-backed stablecoins and has already passed a bill legalizing crypto trading.

According to The Block, the Ghanaian parliament has passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, officially legalizing cryptocurrency trading. Related practitioners must register with the central bank or securities regulator. The Central Bank of Ghana stated that in 2026 it will explore asset-backed digital settlement tools, including gold-backed stablecoins, to promote cross-border payments and market infrastructure development.

The People's Bank of China and eight other departments announced plans to promote the cross-border application of the digital yuan and explore new payment cooperation scenarios with Singapore and other regions.

The People's Bank of China and eight other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor." The Opinions propose exploring international cooperation in digital finance. It supports provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) along the corridor to participate in multilateral central bank digital currency bridge projects, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies in cross-border payments with Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. It also supports exploring and promoting pilot programs for cross-border payments of digital RMB between the mainland and Singapore. Furthermore, it supports eligible provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) along the corridor to build cross-border e-commerce digital service platforms, connecting with cross-border e-commerce and trade digitization platform companies in countries such as Singapore to enhance cross-border e-commerce service capabilities.

The section on expanding the cross-border use of the RMB mentions: strengthening bilateral monetary cooperation with Southeast Asian and Central Asian countries to create supporting conditions for the cross-border use of the RMB; further promoting the pilot program for facilitating RMB settlement in trade and investment at a higher level, supporting foreign trade enterprises to use RMB for settlement more often; supporting ASEAN investors to invest in RMB and reinvest domestically; encouraging RMB pricing and settlement for bulk commodity transactions; supporting the cross-border transfer of RMB cash by banking financial institutions; supporting banks to use RMB for pricing and settlement when conducting cross-border financing, cross-border guarantees, and cross-border asset transfers; supporting eligible provincial (autonomous region, municipality) legal person banks along the Belt and Road to join the RMB cross-border payment system; leveraging the advantages of digital RMB such as payment-settlement, low cost, and programmability, researching the use of digital RMB smart contracts to create innovative solutions, and exploring the feasibility of expanding the application of digital RMB in scenarios such as channel payment settlement, financing, and tax refunds; and studying the expansion of the geographical scope of digital RMB cross-border application, utilizing bilateral and multilateral cross-border business models to reduce costs and increase efficiency in channel cross-border payments.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) stated that it supports provinces and municipalities along the Western Land-Sea New Corridor to participate in multilateral central bank digital currency bridge projects.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) held a press conference to interpret the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor." At the conference, Wang Xin, Director of the Research Bureau of the PBOC, stated that the "Opinions" grasp the new trends in international cooperation such as digital finance and green finance, and innovatively drive high-level financial opening-up in the central and western regions. For example, it supports provinces and municipalities along the corridor to participate in multilateral central bank digital currency bridge projects, promoting the use of central bank digital currencies in cross-border payments; and it supports strengthening cooperation based on the China-Singapore Green Finance Working Group mechanism in areas such as the formulation and application of green finance standards, green financial products, and financial support for green technologies.

Guangzhou's 15th Five-Year Plan Recommendations: Expand the Application Scenarios of Digital RMB

The Guangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China released its proposals on formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Guangzhou. The proposals emphasize accelerating the construction of a strong financial city. This includes building a modern financial service system that is more internationally competitive and commensurate with the core engine function of the Greater Bay Area. It calls for strengthening platforms such as Zhujiang New Town and the International Financial City, promoting the Guangzhou Futures Exchange to enrich its futures and options offerings, and supporting the growth and strengthening of legal financial institutions. The proposals also call for intensified reforms in the financial sector, building a comprehensive, full-chain technology and financial service system, promoting the effective integration of green finance and transitional finance, improving the policy "toolbox" for financial support for micro and small enterprises, establishing a provincial-level demonstration model for elderly care finance, and expanding the application scenarios of the digital RMB. Furthermore, the proposals include improving the mechanism for cultivating companies to go public, supporting mergers and acquisitions of listed companies, accelerating the development of innovative business models such as investment advisory and asset management, and building Guangzhou into a wealth and asset management center for the Greater Bay Area. Finally, the proposals also emphasize improving the local financial regulatory system and strengthening central-local regulatory coordination.

Local News

ICBC Singapore Branch pilots digital RMB overseas wallet top-up

According to Xinhua Finance, under the joint guidance of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Singapore Branch successfully piloted the overseas top-up of digital RMB personal wallets. Singaporean users can top up their digital RMB wallets through their local ICBC accounts for use in travel and consumption within China. This is another innovation by ICBC in the cross-border application of digital currency, following the pilot program for digital RMB import and export settlement, and will help deepen Sino-Singapore financial cooperation.

Trip.com, the overseas version of Ctrip, has launched stablecoin payments, supporting USDT and USDC.

According to Foresight News, Trip.com, the overseas version of Ctrip, has launched stablecoin payment functionality for global users. Currently, it supports two USD stablecoins: USDT and USDC. Payments can be completed through multiple public blockchains, including Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, and Solana. Users in Vietnam can save approximately 18% and 2.35% respectively when using USDT to pay for flight and hotel bookings.

The crypto payment service is powered by Singapore-based crypto payment provider Triple-A, which also partners with companies like Grab to promote crypto payments. Trip.com's stablecoin payment process is simplified; hotel bookings can be completed with just a name and email address, eliminating the need for detailed personal information.

Qianxun Technology launches PayKet, a global digital currency financial services platform based on compliant stablecoins.

Hong Kong-listed company Qianxun Technology (01640.HK) announced that it has officially launched PayKet, a global digital currency financial services platform based on compliant stablecoins.

Project progress

Circle clarifies: Claims of launching a tokenized gold and silver trading platform are false.

According to CoinDesk, Circle has clarified that a recent press release claiming the launch of its tokenized gold and silver trading platform, "CircleMetals," is false information. Released just before Christmas, the message forged the Circle brand and statements from executives, directing users to connect their wallets to participate in the exchange of USDC for gold (GLDC) and silver (SILC) tokens. Circle has confirmed that it has never launched this service, and the website is now offline. Circle reminds users to be vigilant and not to trust unverified links and wallet connection requests.

NYSE-listed Shift4 has launched a stablecoin settlement platform that supports stablecoins such as USDC and USDT.

According to Businesswire, NYSE-listed Shift4 has launched a stablecoin settlement platform. This solution allows merchants to choose to settle transactions using major stablecoins such as USDC, USDT, EURC, and DAI without receiving bank transfers. Furthermore, merchants can flexibly choose from major networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Plasma, Stellar, Polygon, TON, and Base.

Amplify launches two new ETFs focusing on stablecoins and asset tokenization.

Asset management firm Amplify ETFs has launched two new ETFs, the Amplify Stablecoin Technology ETF (STBQ) and the Amplify Tokenization Technology ETF (TKNQ), to provide investors with investment opportunities in the stablecoin and asset tokenization sectors.

STBQ focuses on stablecoin technology, covering payment companies, crypto infrastructure providers, and stablecoin trading platforms. It tracks the MarketVector Stablecoin Technology Index and currently holds 24 assets, including spot crypto ETFs such as XRP, SOL, ETH, and LINK.

TKNQ focuses on asset tokenization technology, tracks the MarketVector Tokenization Technology Index, and holds 53 assets, covering both corporate and crypto assets that support the digitization of real-world assets.

Both ETFs have an expense ratio of 69 basis points and are now listed on the NYSE Arca exchange.

ETHZilla sold 24,200 ETH to redeem bonds and shifted its business focus to RWA tokenization.

Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla announced on the X platform that it sold 24,291 ETH as part of the redemption of outstanding senior collateralized convertible bonds, raising approximately $74.5 million. ETHZilla plans to use all or most of the proceeds from this redemption.

ETHZilla believes its value will be primarily driven by revenue and cash flow growth from its RWA tokenization business, and therefore will discontinue offering the mNAV dashboard on its website, but will continue to update its balance sheet regularly. Furthermore, ETHZilla will continue to report any material changes to ETH Treasury holdings and/or the number of shares in filings with the U.S. SEC and social media posts.

South Korean payment giant BC Card completes stablecoin payment pilot program

South Korean payment giant BC Card has announced the completion of a pilot program allowing foreign users to make payments to local South Korean merchants using stablecoins. The pilot program, conducted in partnership with blockchain company Wavebridge, wallet provider Aaron Group, and cross-border remittance service provider Global Money Express, allows users to exchange stablecoins in their overseas wallets for digital prepaid cards for payments.

BC Card stated that this move is in preparation for the future implementation of stablecoin payment structures and in response to the evolving regulatory landscape for stablecoins in South Korea. BC Card is one of South Korea's largest payment companies, processing over 20% of domestic card transactions and serving 3.4 million local merchants.

Currently, the regulation of stablecoins in South Korea is still under discussion. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has failed to submit a draft regulation on time due to disagreements with the central bank over the proposal. Stablecoins, as an alternative or supplement to traditional payment methods, are gradually being adopted globally.

Nodu raises $1.45 million to build infrastructure for a European version of the "Zerohash" stablecoin.

According to Tech.eu, Nodu, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure startup with a Latvian background, announced the completion of a $1.45 million Pre-Seed funding round led by Digital Space Ventures. The company aims to provide European financial institutions with MiCA-compliant stablecoin access solutions, creating a "European version of Zerohash/Bridge." The Nodu platform supports KYC/AML, stablecoin payments, and fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, and currently covers over 100 countries. It plans to further expand its global footprint and strengthen partnerships with banks and fintech institutions.

Coinbax, a programmable trust layer for stablecoin payments, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding.

According to Globenewswire, Coinbax, a programmable trust layer for stablecoin payments, has completed a $4.2 million seed funding round, aiming to bring features such as custody, strategy execution, and programmable settlement to digital assets.

This funding round was led by BankTech Ventures, with participation from Connecticut Innovations, Paxos, SpringTime Ventures, and companies from the banking, payments, and digital asset infrastructure sectors.

Aptos's on-chain stablecoin market capitalization has grown by over 60% this year, reaching a peak of $1.8 billion.

Aptos' official Twitter account stated that by 2025, it had become the preferred public blockchain for stablecoins, with its market capitalization growing by over 60% year-to-date and reaching a peak of $1.8 billion.

MSX, a tokenized stock trading platform, has launched spot and contract trading products across multiple sectors.

According to official sources, MSX has completed the listing of spot trading for US aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company $RDW.M, defense technology and aerospace solutions company $VOYG.M, global sports brand leader $NIKE.M, physical platinum ETF $PPLT.M; Nasdaq 100 Index triple-leveraged ETF $TQQQ.M contract; and spot and contract trading for gold $GLD.M and silver $SIVR.M.

Insights Highlights

JPMorgan Chase: Stablecoin supply may reach $500-600 billion by 2028, far lower than optimistic expectations.

According to Coindesk, JPMorgan Chase stated that the supply of stablecoins could reach $500 billion to $600 billion by 2028, far lower than the most optimistic forecast of $2 trillion to $4 trillion. They indicated that the demand for stablecoins is primarily a problem within the crypto market, rather than a payment issue.

JPMorgan Chase points out that the stablecoin market has grown by approximately $100 billion this year, reaching about $308 billion, with Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC leading this growth. Demand remains primarily driven by cryptocurrency trading, as well as collateral needs in derivatives and DeFi, with derivatives trading venues adding approximately $20 billion in stablecoin holdings.

Analysts say that the current drivers for payments are relatively small, but this could grow as more service providers test stablecoin-based cross-border transfer channels. However, wider payment usage doesn't necessarily require a larger stablecoin circulation, as token velocity can increase with deeper integration. Furthermore, banks and payment networks are also securing their position in institutional fund flows through tokenized deposits and other blockchain initiatives, while CBDC initiatives could offer regulated alternatives to compete with private stablecoins.

SEC's "Two-Year On-Chain Implementation" Prediction: Tokenization Restructuring of the DTCC Clearing System

PANews Overview: The US financial market (including stocks and bonds) may see a large-scale shift to blockchain technology within two years, marking the most significant transformation since electronic trading began in the 1970s. To achieve this, multiple government departments, including the SEC and Congress, are pushing for regulatory adjustments through collaborative frameworks such as "Project Crypto," clarifying the classification and regulatory authority of digital assets. Meanwhile, traditional financial giants such as BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and DTCC are actively participating, launching tokenized government bonds, deposit and trading systems, and promoting the integration of core infrastructure with blockchain. Tokenization will enable real-time settlement, improved capital efficiency, enhanced transparency, and 24/7 operation in the financial market, but it also faces challenges such as privacy protection, liquidity management, and systemic risks. DTCC, as a core custodian and clearing institution in the US securities market, has received SEC approval to conduct a tokenization pilot program, signifying substantial progress in official blockchain integration and potentially leading to a new market structure of "exchange + blockchain custody."

Finance is becoming "invisible": How stablecoins are becoming the new lifeline of the digital economy

PANews Overview: Finance is becoming as "invisible" as water and electricity, transforming into an underlying service that can be directly accessed by any software and AI. Stablecoins are a key infrastructure driving this transformation. Platforms like Coinbase are building "universal exchanges" by integrating stocks, stablecoins, and on-chain assets, propelling finance from standalone apps to systemic services. Meanwhile, stablecoin applications have expanded beyond surface payments into the core of bank settlements. Visa's permission for banks to use USDC for 24/7 settlements is a major milestone, significantly improving capital efficiency and changing how banks operate. At the regulatory level, the US is integrating stablecoins into the traditional financial system through issuing banking licenses and enacting legislation. At the market level, stablecoins have widely entered everyday scenarios such as gas stations, content creator payments, and corporate finance, and are forming a diversified landscape for future digital finance alongside tokenized deposits and central bank digital currencies. Overall, stablecoins have transcended their investment attributes and are becoming a new artery supporting the global digital economy and improving the efficiency of the financial system.