BlackRock Says AI Boom Could Fuel New Crypto Demand

On September 18, Binance Research published a report analyzing the real-world asset tokenization market, titled "The RWA Activation Era," reporting that on-chain RWA assets under management reached $34.18 billion, equivalent to approximately 5.37 trillion yen, up 85.2% year-to-date. The largest category was bonds and money market funds, with AUM of $18.29 billion. Equities rose 390.4% year-to-date to $4.43 billion, and their share of all tracked RWA expanded from 4.9% to 13.0%. Meanwhile, gold and commodities rose 46.6%, private credit 43.6%, and real estate 17.9%. The report introduces a "Programmable Asset Ratio," which shows tokenized assets as a proportion of the underlying asset market, and a "Capital Activation Rate," which shows the share of tokenized assets actually being used in on-chain finance, noting that while the major asset markets eligible for tokenization exceed $300 trillion globally, the share currently tokenized on-chain remains at only about 0.01%. The CAR for all tracked RWA is about 12%, with private credit posting the highest CAR at 49.67%, while equities also climbed from 1.95% at the start of the year to 7.54%. Binance Research analyzes that in the next growth phase of the RWA market, it will be important not only to issue assets on the blockchain but also to use them for liquidity provision, lending, and collateral.

Avalanche's AVAX token surged nearly 50% over the past week to an eight-month high of $10.82 on Sunday, lifted by a wave of institutional tokenization headlines. The biggest catalyst came from Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE parent, which has spent roughly a year testing Avalanche for a potential 24/7 platform for tokenized US stocks and ETFs, though ICE has not selected Avalanche or announced a commercial deal, and Ava Labs President Charley Cooper said the firm remains actively engaged with the network. New York Life Investment Management announced plans to launch its first tokenized fund on Avalanche through Centrifuge, giving eligible investors exposure to US high-yield corporate bonds, while Aave is developing an institutional RWA lending market on Avalanche, Paxos expanded support for AVAX and USDC, and Janus Henderson joined the network as a validator. Avalanche's Helicon upgrade is scheduled for Sept. 22, cutting the minimum staking lockup from 14 days to 48 hours and adjusting validator requirements and rewards. On the charts, AVAX rebounded from the lower boundary of a giant falling wedge that has developed since the 2021 peak, bouncing near the $5.80 to $6.50 support zone and recovering above its 20-week EMA near $7.97; a continued rebound could target $19 to $20, where the wedge's descending upper trendline converges with the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement level near $19.86, an approximately 85 to 90% rally from current levels around $10.50. The setup would weaken if AVAX loses the wedge's lower trendline and falls decisively below the $5.80 support area, while the 50-week exponential moving average is serving as solid resistance.