The gap between traditional finance and Web3 is closing fast. Two worlds that once felt separate are now starting to overlap, driven by new technology and regulation. At the core of that overlap are two forces: stablecoins and real-world assets (RWAs).
Both are meant to serve as bridges between two imperfect systems. Traditional finance is reliable, but it’s slow and costly. Web3 is faster and more open, but volatility and weak oversight make regulators uneasy.
The question now is simple: if these two systems are going to connect, who will build the bridge?
To unpack this, we’ll cover four angles:
How governments around the world are writing the rulebook for stablecoins
Why stablecoins and RWAs are gaining momentum as the new rails of finance
Where experiments like Anchorpoint and NUVA are testing what the future could look like
Stablecoins are no longer niche tokens. With a market cap of roughly $250 to $280 billion as of August 2025, they have become central to digital payments. That growth has forced governments to step in.
Europe’s MiCA came into force in 2024, treating stablecoins almost like banks and requiring strict reserves to protect the euro system.
In the United States, the GENIUS Act (S.1582) passed in July 2025. It opens the door for both banks and licensed non-banks to issue stablecoins, signaling a tilt toward private-sector innovation.
In Asia, Japan updated its payments law in 2022, Singapore introduced its own framework in 2023, and South Korea followed with protections in 2024. Most of these countries rely on sandbox programs to balance innovation with oversight.
Share Dialog
Animoca Brands
The UAE, the UK, and Switzerland have all rolled out frameworks between 2024 and 2025, aiming to regulate growth while keeping the door open to fintech investment.
Different regions have their own style, but the playbook ends up looking pretty similar:
Keep stablecoins stable with strong reserves
Protect users with redemption rights and transparency
Prevent their misuse for money laundering or sanctions evasion
Guard against risks to monetary policy and financial stability
Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance, effective August 1, 2025, is part of this global trend. What makes Hong Kong notable is its role as a bridge between East and West. The city combines international standards with local flexibility, requiring HKMA licensing and running a sandbox for issuers such as Animoca Brands, Standard Chartered, and HKT.
With regulations in place, two areas are now moving quickly: stablecoins and RWAs.
As of August 2025, the stablecoin market sits at about $250 to $280 billion. Analysts expect it to keep growing, with Coinbase projecting it could hit $1.2 trillion by 2028.
Why stablecoins matter:
They are cheaper. FedNow charges about 4.5 cents per transfer. Stablecoin transactions often cost less than a penny.
They are faster. Payments settle in seconds and blockchains do not close at night or on weekends.
They are flexible. Stablecoins plug directly into DeFi applications, which makes it easy to build services like lending or yield products on top of them.
This shift is already forcing banks to rethink their role. Instead of just moving money, they may end up holding digital assets or offering risk management inside decentralized systems.
In Hong Kong’s sandbox, Animoca Brands, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), and HKT joined forces to form Anchorpoint Financial Limited, a joint venture tasked with exploring the issuance of licensed stablecoins under the new regulatory framework.
The goal is simple: Anchorpoint plans to issue a fiat-referenced stablecoin regulated by the HKMA. It has notified the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on August 1, 2025, the same day Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance came into effect, signaling its intent to apply for a stablecoin issuer license.
Stablecoins solve the money side. RWAs open the door to everything else.
Private credit, Treasuries, and real estate are all being tokenized so they can be traded or owned in fractions. Ripple and Boston Consulting Group estimate the market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033.
What is already happening:
Private credit opens new funding channels for small businesses while giving investors steady yield.
Tokenized government bonds let on-chain users invest in safe, interest-bearing products.
Fractional ownership of property and collectibles lowers investment barriers and speeds up transactions.
This model cuts costs and breaks down barriers, but scaling it requires both demand and clear rules.
One example is NUVA, a vault marketplace co-developed by Animoca Brands and ProvLabs on the Provenance Blockchain.
NUVA will list assets that exist fully on-chain, not just tokenized versions of off-chain assets. Provenance already secures more than $15.7 billion in RWAs.
At launch, NUVA will feature vaults from Figure Technologies: YLDS, the first SEC-registered yielding stablecoin security, and HELOCs, fixed-rate home equity loans issued by Figure Lending, the largest non-bank HELOC lender in the U.S.
NUVA is designed to be global and permissionless, so assets once reserved for institutions are now open to a wider set of investors.
As Yat Siu, our co-founder and executive chairman, explained:
“Together with NUVA, we want to make institutional-quality assets radically more accessible across a unified, multi-chain ecosystem, while setting the stage for a new era of user-owned financial networks. This is an important leap toward a more inclusive, on-chain financial system.”
Stablecoins are becoming the digital guardrails for money. RWAs are turning investments like bonds, loans, and property into digital tokens. Together, they are forming the backbone of a financial system where Web3 and traditional finance do not just coexist but reinforce one another.
This isn’t some distant vision. The bridge is already being built, and digital assets are moving from niche experiments into everyday finance.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal or any other professional advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to engage in any transaction. We may hold investments or other interests in the entities or projects discussed. We disclaim all liability for any actions taken based on the information provided, and we do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness of the information.
All comments (1)
Stablecoins and real-world assets are bridging traditional finance with DeFi. Hong Kong, Europe, the U.S., Asia, the UAE, the UK, Switzerland and more countries are now establishing regulatory frameworks and sandboxes to encourage stablecoin innovation. Sandboxes like Anchorpoint in Hong Kong and NUVA show how money and assets are moving on-chain. Gain global insights on stablecoins, RWAs, and how financial systems are shifting with our latest @paragraph post. 🌏 https://paragraph.com/@animocabrands/the-bridges-between-traditional-and-decentralized-finance?referrer=0xFf432642573B675360a166de1723e52BD2BddC24