The crypto market has spent a lot of time recently reacting to macroeconomic shifts and regulatory guesswork. But if you look past the daily price charts, one trend is growing consistently: the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). Even in a sluggish broader market, active tokenized RWAs have skyrocketed. According to Binance Research, this sector has grown by a staggering 589% since the start of 2025. We are seeing massive influxes of capital, with bonds and money market funds adding $6.5 billion in value, while tokenized stocks have jumped by 422%. Traditional financial giants are taking notes, too, with institutions like Apex Group and The Clearing House rapidly expanding their own blockchain infrastructures.
This momentum was impossible to ignore recently when the crypto exchange Kraken announced a massive new offering. They rolled out tokenized access to the highly anticipated SpaceX IPO, giving eligible users across more than 110 markets the ability to get in on the action through xStocks. Investors who secured an allocation are receiving SPCXx—a digital token backed one-to-one by actual SpaceX equity that can be traded 24/7 on participating platforms. With SpaceX aiming for a historic $75 billion raise and reportedly being oversubscribed by four times, the demand for tokenized equities has never been clearer.
Prediction Markets Take the Lead While SBF Seeks a Pardon
Beyond the world of tokenized stocks, user behavior in the blockchain space is undergoing a major shift. In the first quarter of 2026, prediction markets officially outpaced onchain gambling for the very first time. Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs reported that prediction markets generated an impressive $36.6 billion in volume, comfortably beating the $14 billion seen in onchain gambling. While both sectors had previously crossed the $50 billion mark for annual volume in 2025, prediction markets are now clearly capturing the public’s interest. Crypto gambling is still going strong, however, driven by an expanding user base. While high rollers still make up the bulk of the money spent, the fastest growth is actually coming from casual, everyday bettors entering the space.
Meanwhile, the legal drama surrounding the collapse of FTX continues to unfold. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has officially applied for a presidential pardon from US President Donald Trump. His request is currently sitting on the pending clemency list at the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. Bankman-Fried is already appealing his 2023 fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence, especially after his recent request for a new trial was denied. Interestingly, he has spent recent months posting social media messages that seem heavily aligned with Trump’s platform, hoping for a lifeline despite the president previously stating he had no plans to pardon the disgraced crypto founder.
