South American stablecoin usage rising
“Brazil’s regulators are already tightening control over stablecoin flows and virtual-asset service providers, and they’re doing it in tiers. Under Resolution 561, virtual assets can no longer settle transactions inside the regulated eFX system, so cross-border payment and receipt flows are pushed back onto banks and traditional foreign exchange.
“Resolutions 519, 520 and 521 reinforce that by capping non-bank providers: virtual-asset service providers are limited to $100,000 per transaction, while banks face no such cap at all. That asymmetry makes these flows unworkable at scale for anyone that isn’t a bank.
“And most recently, the Central Bank moved directly against the fund structure that operators were using as a side door: routing crypto imports through investment funds acting as FX intermediaries, so that payment flows were dressed up as portfolio investment. The BCB has now notified the market that it considers this disguised intermediation illegal and ordered it discontinued.
“The effect is already visible, with stablecoin spreads widening sharply almost overnight. Put together, none of this is a ban on stablecoins. It is something more deliberate: cross-border stablecoin settlement is being moved inside the banking perimeter and closed off to non-bank structures.”
– Bernardo Brites, co-founder and CEO, Trace Finance
“The IMF’s scrutiny of Brazil is a graduation as stablecoins now move enough capital across borders to matter to macroeconomic policy, and that changes the conversation entirely.
“The lesson from Brazil is that you can’t bolt compliance onto stablecoin rails after the fact. When crypto flows outpace registered capital flows, the problem isn’t the technology; it’s that identity and compliance were never native to it. The next generation of settlement infrastructure has to embed verified identity, transaction-level auditability, and regulatory visibility at the protocol layer, not wrap it around the edges.
“Regulators don’t want to stop these flows, but rather they want to see them in action as they build identity and compliance into the rails themselves. In doing this, markets like Brazil keep the speed and access that made stablecoins attractive, and central banks get the visibility they need. That’s the standard cross-border finance is heading toward.”
– Ryan Kirkley, co-founder and CEO, Global Settlement Network
Crypto investing
“The SK Hynix selloff has evolved into one of crypto’s most fiercely contested AI equity trades, suggesting traders are still actively establishing positions rather than simply exiting risk. SK Hynix is the most actively traded tokenized stock on the platform this week, with gross notional crossing $332 million on July 28 alone. While the stock is down 27% on-chain, open interest grew 64%, indicating new shorts entered as prices fell, rather than longs simply closing positions. Daily funding swung between +84% and -72% annualized across the week, the signature of a market where bullish and bearish conviction remains evenly matched rather than one side capitulating.
“Rather than retreating from AI semiconductor exposure, crypto traders appear to be rotating capital within the sector. The trade nobody is discussing is the rotation into CXMT. The Chinese memory-chip maker saw open interest nearly double to $86 million by July 27, before net positioning flipped sharply long at $16.9 million on July 28. Funding turned negative on July 28 and is running at -2,086% today, meaning shorts are paying an extraordinary rate to maintain positions against a stock that is already up 8% on the week. Capital rotated out of SK Hynix and into its Chinese competitor on the same semiconductor catalyst.
“On-chain positioning suggests crypto traders are expressing highly differentiated views on the AI sector ahead of earnings, rather than treating Big Tech as a single macro trade. Google has emerged as the market’s most aggressively shorted name, with net short positioning running between $25 million and $30 million through July 27 and 28.
“Microsoft is also attracting bearish positioning despite beating earnings, with long exposure falling to just 12% on July 25. The lowest ratio in the dataset—and net short notional reaching $15 million on July 28. Apple, meanwhile, stands apart as the clear bullish outlier: 85% of positioning was long early in the week, open interest grew 73% to $69 million, and funding turned sharply negative at -31% annualized ahead of its July 31 earnings, suggesting shorts are paying to maintain positions against growing long conviction.”
– Nicolai Sondergaard, research analyst, Nansen
Crypto and real estate
“The collapse of RealT is certainly significant because it was one of the highest-profile tokenized real estate platforms, but I think it’s important not to draw the wrong conclusion. This is not an indictment of blockchain technology or tokenization itself; it’s a reminder that technology cannot compensate for poor asset management, inadequate governance, or weak operational controls.
“From what has been reported, the underlying issues appear to have been neglected property management, unpaid taxes, regulatory disputes, and concentration risk from owning hundreds of properties in a single market. Those are traditional real estate problems that would have created serious issues regardless of whether ownership was recorded on a blockchain or in a conventional limited partnership.
“The biggest lesson for investors is that tokenization does not eliminate the need for due diligence. Before evaluating the technology, investors should ask the same questions they would ask of any real estate sponsor: Who is managing the properties? How diversified is the portfolio? How are reserves handled? Who performs independent audits? What legal rights do token holders actually have if things go wrong?
“The industry should also recognize that tokenization and custody are separate issues. A blockchain token can provide transparent ownership records and facilitate efficient transfers, but it does not mow the lawn, collect rent, pay property taxes, or maintain the buildings. The value of any tokenized real estate investment ultimately depends on the quality of the underlying asset and the competence of the operator.
“From my perspective at CryptEscrow, we see a very different use case for blockchain in real estate. We are not tokenizing ownership interests or asking investors to rely on a third-party sponsor to manage assets.
“Instead, we use cryptocurrency as a secure source of funds for traditional real estate purchases. The buyer’s digital assets are converted into U.S. dollars before closing, allowing title companies, lenders, sellers, and regulators to complete transactions within the existing legal and settlement framework. In that model, blockchain serves as a payment rail rather than an investment product.
“I don’t believe the RealT liquidation will slow institutional adoption of blockchain in real estate. If anything, it will accelerate demand for stronger governance, better regulation, independent oversight, and greater transparency. Those developments are healthy for the industry and will help distinguish sustainable real-world asset projects from those that rely primarily on the novelty of tokenization.
“The long-term opportunity remains substantial. Industry analysts project the tokenized real-world asset market could reach into the trillions of dollars over the next decade. However, successful projects will be built on high-quality assets, professional management, regulatory compliance, and investor protections—not simply on blockchain technology itself.”
– John Ioannou, founder, CryptEscrow
