HTX Ventures: RWAFi and Stablecoin Payments Set to Dominate the Evolving DeFi Landscape

HTX Ventures report highlights the rising prominence of RWAFi and stablecoin payments in the evolving DeFi landscape.

The report emphasizes the growing integration of traditional finance and DeFi, presenting opportunities for RWAFi and stablecoin payments to become key bridges in this merging landscape.

HTX, a leading crypto exchange, has released a comprehensive report titled “A New Era for DeFi with Crypto Compliance and New Opportunities in RWA-Fi and Stablecoin Payments.” This report analyzes the shifting environment of crypto trading in 2025, focusing on the significant opportunities and challenges faced by RWAFi and stablecoin payments.

As crypto regulatory policies gradually ease, institutional investors are presented with more favorable conditions to participate in the crypto ecosystem. This shift has seen stablecoins and RWAs (Real-World Assets) emerge as crucial bridges connecting the traditional finance and decentralized finance worlds.

Data shows a remarkable surge in stablecoins usage in blockchain transactions, which has risen from 3% in 2020 to over 50% by the end of 2024. The core value proposition of stablecoins lies in their ability to facilitate seamless cross-border payments, making them strategically important in international trade.

The report underscores the immense potential of stablecoins, stating, “At present, the global cross-border B2B payments market processed through traditional channels is valued at approximately $40 trillion, while the consumer remittance market generates hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue. Stablecoins offer a new alternative for efficient cross-border payments via crypto channels. As the adoption gains momentum, stablecoins are set to penetrate and disrupt this market segment, becoming a key player in the global payments landscape.”

Furthermore, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee is actively preparing to introduce a stablecoin bill, which has the potential to be the first comprehensive crypto legislation passed by Congress. This legislation could drive widespread adoption of crypto wallets, stablecoins, and blockchain-based payment channels among traditional banks, enterprises, and individuals. Notably, several prominent traditional financial giants, including PayPal and Stripe, have already initiated active exploration within the stablecoin sector.

The RWA market saw positive growth during the recent bear market cycle, primarily driven by its stable returns. Unlike cryptocurrencies, the value of RWAs remains largely unaffected by the inherent volatility of the crypto market, a crucial characteristic for building a robust DeFi ecosystem. Industry leaders like Binance project that the RWA market could expand to $16 trillion by 2030. This immense market potential has driven companies like BlackRock and Tether to explore tokenized assets, leading to the emergence of compliance tools for RWA token issuance, such as Securitize.

As stablecoins and RWAFi emerge as the cornerstones of the evolving DeFi landscape, project teams are tasked with developing innovative products tailored to the new environment and demands. While challenges are inevitable, these transformative shifts also unlock numerous opportunities.

In terms of realizing the vision of yield-generating stablecoins, the report identifies two prevailing market trends:

Seamlessly integrating DeFi applications with RWAs presents another critical challenge for project teams. On one hand, the inherent stability of RWAs can effectively mitigate risk in DeFi applications. Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) stablecoins, such as Curve’s crvUSD, are increasingly incorporating RWAs as collateral to enhance their stability. On the other hand, the flexibility of DeFi can significantly boost the utilization rate of tokenized RWAs. Pendle’s newly introduced RWA section, boasting a current total value locked (TVL) of $150 million, exemplifies this synergy. Leveraging the composability of DeFi Lego, Pendle’s diverse yield-generating assets can offer highly attractive annual percentage yields (APYs), incentivizing users to invest in RWA stablecoins.

Emerging DeFi projects still possess significant untapped potential within niche sectors, such as addressing defaults scenarios within the private credit market within RWA domain and effectively leveraging RWA public chains to empower institutional finance. Looking ahead, the report suggests that on-chain forex, cross-border payment stacks, and multi-pool stablecoin aggregation platforms are among the promising development directions in the “New DeFi” era.