When the narrative bubble retreats, what are the truly valuable encrypted assets
By: Fintax
OneIntroduction
In scenarios such as cross-border payments, asset preservation and capital flows, the applicability of different financial instruments and institutional arrangements can be more pronounced in high uncertainty environments. Compared to traditional settlement systems relying on centralized intermediaries, chain assets are originally technical features of cross-border transfers, self-cussion and not exclusively of a single agency, and are therefore more easily used for value transfer, risk buffers and asset allocation in a context of partial sanctions, high inflation or restricted capital flows。
In the case of Iran, under extreme external pressure, the Iranian rial collapsed at the open market dollar exchange rateThirty timesOneI don't know. In extreme macro-shocks, chain assets with cross-border transferability, self-custody and stand-off to single-point freezing are rapidly used by transnational trading participants and local residents as risk buffers and alternative routes to capital。Research by Chainalysis shows that Iran's encrypted ecology reached about 77.8 in 2025In billions of dollars, chain activities are highly relevant to major macro events. However, the cross-border movement of such assets also carries significant compliance risks. Its anti-censorship features may also provide opportunities for illicit financial flows while providing autonomy to users. How to balance innovation with regulation is a common theme for global policymakers。
short-term & ldquo under macro-environment fluctuations; channel value & rdquo; unable to hide the deep division of value in the market for encrypted assets. the long-term blind expansion of token supplies is in stark contrast to the rapid demise of big projects:CoinGeckoResearchThe data show that more than 13.4 million previously listed encryption projects eventually stopped trading and were considered unsuccessfulTwoi don't know. this huge “ death list & rdquo; is a profound indication that only “ distribution — finance — narrative ” driving unbased assets cannot sustain consensus in the long term, and market finance and liquidity will ultimately yield to a few assets with sustainable value mechanisms。
against the above background, this paper looks at “ value mechanisms ” as a core entry point, first, to explore which tokens have a cyclical sustainable value under the test of economic policy uncertainty and cross-border economic activity; and second, to analyse in depth why, in the evolution of global digital finance, the regulatory system inevitably presents an evolutionary path from financial disorder to market infrastructure governance to classification rules and data dissemination。
TwoTheory Foundation
2.1Theoretical definition of monetization and three basic proofs
In its 2025 report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) defined “ monetization ” Tokenization as the process of using programmable ledgers to express ownership of assets in transferable digital formats & sup1; Unlike traditional financial systems that rely on the delivery of external information, such as the SWIFT system, monetization theoretically builds a shared record-keeping system (Shared System of Record), combining smart contracts to achieve a unified record-keeping system, flexible hosting models and chain governance。
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) further noted in its “ Unified Book ” Unified Ledger structural blueprint that monetization integrates information transmission, reconciliation and settlement into a single seamless operation. This leap in the bottom structure has significantly reduced the costs of trust friction and compliance in transnational commercial collaboration. Its theoretical framework is based on three basic proofs: first, proof of value. This means that asset issuance needs to have a verifiable value base — — or is supported by cash flows from the real economy, or by a broad network consensus. This ensures that the chain assets are not forged &ldquao; narrative foam &rdquao; and, secondly, proof of ownership. That is, the attribution of title needs to be made clear and the right to dispose of assets is conferred directly on the legitimate holder. Distributive bookings are exclusive by means of cryptography, cutting off reliance on centralized intermediaries and technically circumventing the risk of a single-point freezing or misappropriation of assets; and, third, proof of transactions. That is, proof of a non-mixable, verifiable history of transactions and liquidation and settlement. This means that each cross-border capital flow has complete traceability and provides a bottom-up data base for ex post compliance audits and penetrating controls。
Together, these three evidences constitute the logical starting point for the re-engineering of the financial infrastructure by token: proof of value establishes the basis for the issuance of assets, proof of ownership reconstructs the form of realization of property rights, and proof of trade restores mechanisms of confidence in liquidation and settlement。
2.2Two core token models: prototype and support
The current monetization model can be divided into two basic categories of value capture mechanisms: Native Tokens and Backed Tokens. The ability of the two to cross macrocycles varies significantly, rooted in the differences in their value anchors。
Original tokens are assets issued directly in the chain and have embedded records of issuance, transactions and ownership. Such assets (e.g., primary public-chain assets such as Taifung) usually do not anchor external physical assets, and their core function is to serve as a clearing agent within the network and to maintain a "safe budget" for the operation of the decentrized system. In particular, original tokens are modelled through economic incentives (e.g. equity) BetPOS attracts nodes to maintain consensus on the network and acts as a network fuel charge (Gas Fee) for users to use smart contracts to implement complex business logic. The sustainable value of the original token, which is tied deep to the sustainability of the public chain network to reduce the costs of friction for real economic activity & mdash; — its value is derived from the prosperity of the web ecology and the frequency of actual use. In short, the value anchor of the original token is network utility。
supported tokens are also issued and flowing along the chain, but their value is strictly anchored in the assets under the chain. the core mission of the supporting tokens is to bring the real gains from traditional financial markets into the chain. at a time when economic policy uncertainty has increased, supportive tokens have shown great practical value. for example, the monetization of high-quality liquid assets, such as united states treasury bonds, not only gave traditional assets 7× 24-hour, segregable global liquidity, with more chained funds providing a high-risk-free yield benchmark away from encrypted markets. this constitutes a tool for efficient liquidity management in complex macro-level environments, devaluation of the currency against which it is applied and reduction of cross-border friction costs for enterprises with international operations. the value anchor of the supporting token is the value of the asset under the chain。
The essence of the two kinds of tokens is that: the value of the original token is derived from the inner web, its sustainability depends on the ecological sustainability of the value of the downside efficiency; the value of the supporting token is derived from the off-chain mapping, and its sustainability depends on the credit quality and ability to pay for the anchor assets。
ThreeEconomic analysis of sustainable token values
The market for encrypted assets is undergoing a profound return of value after several rounds of conversion。CoinGeckoResearchThe data show more than 1340ten thousand encryption projects driven solely by — finance — narrative eventually stopped trading and were market-driven. this huge “ death list ” a basic rule: speculation that lacks bottom asset support and real applications is bound to fail to maintain market consensus at a time when macro-liquidity retreats。
From a systemic economics perspective, if a token is to be tested for cyclical sustainability, withstand external macro shocks, it must by its very nature be capable of substantially reducing the costs of friction in real economic operations and establishing solid power structures. This sustainable value can be analysed at three dimensions。
3.1Macro Rally
Enterprises are highly dependent on stable, low-distortive cross-border payment networks in their internationalized configuration and cross-border trade. However, the traditional proxy bank model (Correspondent Banking) constitutes significant systemic friction due to the lengthy liquidation chain and the multiplicity of compliance points. As of the first quarter of 2025, World Bank data showed that the average cost of cross-border remittances remained as high as 6.49 per cent globally, of which the average apparent charges through traditional banking channels ranged from 12 to 13 per centThreei don't know. the cost of cross-border remittances across regions worldwide is shown in table 1. moreover, due to macroeconomic instability, the cost of cross-border remittances has shown an increasing trend in some areas. bank for international settlements in “Agorá Project ” the study also noted that existing cross-border payment systems are challenging and that monetization techniques can integrate information transmission, reconciliation and settlement into a single seamless operation。
TableOneCost of cross-border remittances in parts of the world
| Region | Average cost (%)% | Cost trends |
| South Asia | 4.80 | Global lowest |
| East Asia and the Pacific | 5.76 | Stabilization |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 5.72 | Stabilization |
| Middle East and North Africa | 6.25 | Rise |
| Europe and Central Asia | 7.94 | It's going up |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 8.78 | Rising |
Data source:RemitBeeFour
When economic policy uncertainty surges & mdash; — for example, extreme capital controls, sanctions caused by geo-maritime games, or SWIFT network connections are cut off in macro-crisis & mdash; traditional cross-border capital flows face not only high hidden and visible costs, but also a crisis of availability where funds are frozen at any time. At this point in time, the value of tokens is reflected first and foremost in their ability to act as an independent, anti-censorship macro-strike。
The global macrodata of Chainalysis confirms this logic: In areas of extreme pressure where inflation is out of control or where geo-conflicts have intensified, retail and business users tend to convert large-scale funds to USDT, USDC and other supporting stable currencies to sustain cross-border supply chain operations and rapidly depreciate against the domestic currency. Such chain-based assets based on programmable book issuances cut off reliance on a single centralized financial intermediary by handing over control of assets to the end-user through the Self-Custody mechanism. For transnational economic agents, this chain-value network, with global liquidity, has become a capital buffer against the risk at the end of macro-policy。
3.2anchorReal proceeds
Mass & ldquo; Air & rdquo; the demise proves that the economics of tokens, which depend solely on community sentiment and the movement of Bend, cannot survive. The World Economic Forum noted that sustainable living tokens must have clear & ldquo; embedded rights & rdquo; and Embedded Rights, which confers legitimate economic and governance rights on holders at the bottom of the code。
There is a clear structural migration of market funds: accelerated convergence towards availability “ real gains ” assets. The World Economic Forum report showed that total transfers of supporting currencies, such as stable currencies, amounted to $27.6 trillion in 2024, exceeding the sum of Visa and Mastercard transactions, and that the market value of stable currencies has generally been increasing since 2020 (see figure 1). Data for the year in the figure refer to January of the year). From a macro-capital efficiency perspective, there is a potential global mortgage pool of about $2.3 trillion, but only about $25 trillion worth of securities are actually activated as collateral, constrained by inefficiencies and time frictions in the physical flow of traditional financial systems。
THE MONETIZATION OF HIGH-QUALITY LIQUID ASSETS (HQLA, E.G. UNITED STATES TREASURY BONDS) NOT ONLY TO TRADITIONAL ASSETS7× 24The time- and limit-limited global transfer capacity directly introduces the real economy ' s risk-free rate of return into the chain. This mechanism has created valuation anchors that are detached from purely encrypted, and has provided a classic valuation model that aligns the value logic of supporting tokens with modern finance, providing a new liquidity tool for the management of corporate treasury funds. This is confirmed by market performance: during periods of increased macro-level volatility, both the volume of movements and the dynamism of transactions in compliance stable currencies have increased significantly, reflecting the market's substantive demand for "valitable value anchors". Research by the International Monetary Fund2025) It is clear that the monetization of central bank reserves is a key path to maintaining the central bank’s currency’s core clearing function in the digital asset ecology, which is essentially a technical transport of the existing reserve system, rather than creating new central bank liabilities。
FigureOneEvolution of the total market value of stable currencies2020-2025This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011Data source: CoinLedger5
3.3Lowerfriction andCost
In the life cycle of micro-business operations and financial clean-up, the core value of sustainable tokens derives from its re-engineering of the efficiency of contract implementation. In traditional capital markets, corporate actions such as interest-sharing, stock-breaking, voting and so forth are not only time-consuming and laborious, but are also highly susceptible to information asymmetries and misalignments due to unstructured data characteristics。
The programmability of smart contracts provides a new paradigm for addressing this problem: a code mechanism that cannot be tampered with effectively prevents unilateral rule changes and restores business trust through standardized operations. Cross-border compliance checks (KYC/AML), commercial contracts such as the flow of complex asset services and the automated distribution of proceeds can be converted into automated process codes. Further, smart contracts have achieved “ atomized settlements ” and Atomic Settlement, the silver against DvP, have fundamentally eliminated the risk of reconciliation and counterparty in cross-border collaboration。
As a result, the sustainable value of original tokens was established: they served as efficient and secure &ldquo for the maintenance of decentralized bottom books; system security budget ” and network fuel (Gas Fee). This value logic has been validated through the market — — in public chains such as the Taifung, network activity is highly correlated with primary currency consumption, and the application of ecological prosperity is directly translated into currency value capture. As long as the bottom public chain continues to bring substantial downside efficiency to the world ' s transnational payment, supply chain finance and clearing systems, the value cycle of its original currency can create a self-conforming fly-wheel effect。
FourDisruption and infrastructure
If the bottom programmable mechanism of tokens determines the intrinsic value of its life cycle, the evolving regulatory framework defines its boundaries and compliance costs in modern macroeconomic systems. PricewaterhouseCoopers' annual regulatory report also concluded that regulation was no longer binding, but was actively reshaping the market so that digital assets could be a framework for responsible expansionSixi don't know. globally, secure asset regulation presents a clear evolutionary path in terms of time dimension from “ finance disorder like governance ” to “ market infrastructure governance ” and then to “ classification rules and data ” at its core, it is driven by the fact that, with the expansion of the size of the encrypted market and the leap in asset complexity, the path of contagion of financial risk has shifted fundamentally from isolated encrypted ecology to traditional transnational capital flows and macro-financial stabilization systems。
4.1Time-dimensional evolution of supervised paths
From a life cycle perspective of cross-border capital flows, the evolution of the regulatory path is a reactive response and proactive preparedness to highlight risks at different stages, divided into three phases:
4.1.1Phase I: Financing chaos and governance
in the early stages of the development of the encryption market, the market was full of narrative-driven projects. financial risk is concentrated in regulatory arbitrage, illegal fund-raising and the resulting erosion of investor interests, owing to the vague definition of assets and the lack of cash flows in the real economy. a large number of projects fail after short trading. in the face of such chaos, the focus of regulation is on cutting off the disorderly exchange routes between traditional french and non-root-based currencies, with a view to preventing the illicit outflow of transnational capital and its systemic disturbance of the macro-financial order. the core features of this phase are “ containment regulation ” — — and containment of risk spillover as the primary objective。
4.1.2Phase II: Market infrastructure governance
With the ecological evolution of encryption and the rapid expansion of the Centralized Exchange (CEX) and the Trust Agency, the market presents extreme institutional concentration risks. However, funding mixing and internal controls are common among these institutions in a regulatory environment. When hit by macro-liquidity tightening or economic policy uncertainty, such nodes lacking risk buffer capacity are highly likely to trigger &ldquao similar to traditional banks; crowding &rdquao; and have strong procyclical effects. As a result, the regulatory focus has shifted to resilience building at the bottom of the infrastructure. Policymakers have begun to enforce asset segregation (Bankruptcy Remotenesse) and independent third-party hosting to ensure the integrity of customer assets in the event of the insolvency of an institution, thereby cutting the chain of systemic risk transmission caused by single-point failures. The logo for this phase is “ Organic Regulation ” — — and the introduction of infrastructure security standards for traditional finance into encrypted ecology。
4.1.3Phase III: Classification rules and data dissemination
regulation enters deep waters when zone chain technologies are gradually incorporated into the mainstream financial system to reduce friction in cross-border transactions. the regulator is aware that the adoption of “ the one-size-fits-all ” and the single scale are no longer adapted to complex asset patterns. under the european union code on encrypted assets market (eu code)MiCA and Liechtenstein, Currency and Credible Technology Service Providers Act (TVTTG)) front-line legislation, which defines token currency as &ldquao; right packaging &rdquaoContainers of Rights) and implement classification regulations strictly based on their economic characteristics. At the same time, regulatory tools are accelerating the digitalization and APIevolution requires 24/7 penetrating monitoring of chain mobility and transnational capital movements through a unified data delivery interface. the core features of this phase are “ embedded regulation ” — — and integration of compliance requirements into the technical base。
4.2Differential regulation based on the type of token value
Regulators adopt differentiated compliance requirements and policy tools for coins at different value anchors。
The regulatory logic of original currency is to enhance network resilience and anti-money laundering penetration. Anonymized encrypted assets, because of their potential regulatory compliance advantages, have a significantly higher average market value than anonymous equivalents (see also paraCremers et al., 2025I don't know. Original tokens have the characteristics of decentrization and similar bearer assets, and their issuance and settlement are closed in chains. In a complex macro-environment, this anonymity provides users with autonomy and may be misused to circumvent compliance requirements. International anti-money-laundering regulatory bodies (e.g.In its updated guidelines, FATF has made the anti-money laundering penetration of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) a priority area of control. For original tokens and their service providers, regulatory tools rely heavily on chain data analysis (On-chain Analytics) and FATF& ldquo; travel & rdquoEnforcement of Travel Rule, requiring penetration and recording of real identity information on a bilateral transactionSevenI don't know. That is, compliance penetration through service providers is achieved without undermining the decentralised network structure。
the regulatory logic for supporting tokens is audit and liquidity management of assets under the anchor chain. the foundation of the value of the supporting tokens lies in their firm payment commitments to the assets under the chain. its core vulnerability lies in the possible disconnection between the proof of a chain record and the potential maturity mismatch and value of a real reserve under the chain. in the face of macro-shocks, regulation is strictly focused on prevention & ldquo; de- anchor & rdquoDe-pegging) risk. U.S. Monetary Supervisory Authority 20262Regulatory proposals issued during the month clearly require stable currency distributors to maintain100 per cent high-quality liquid asset reserve and subject to monthly reporting and annual review to introduce more sophisticated asset auditing standards in traditional finance Let's go8I don't know. Modern regulatory frameworks enforce the introduction of independent high-frequency third-party audits by issuers, severely limit the proportion of investments in high-risk assets and establish dual liquidity pools to ensure availability100 PER CENT OR MORE OF HIGH-QUALITY LIQUID ASSETS (HQLA)) Covers the disc. This is to use traditional financial asset auditing standards to provide credit for chain value anchors。
4.3Compliance& ldquo;Code”
in dealing with high-frequency, complex multinational business transactions, traditional ex post facto regulation faces high transnational enforcement costs and information lags. multinational regulators are actively promoting “ coded compliance ” and bottom-up innovation to balance the efficiency of capital flows with the maintenance of financial security。
DIGITAL AUTHENTICATION (KYC/AML) THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF COMPLIANCE-SPECIFIC TOKEN STANDARDS (E.G. ERC-3643, THE T-REX PROTOCOL)), aml travel rule thresholds and capital transfer restrictions in specific jurisdictions are directly coded hard to the bottom of smart contracts. this means that a transaction is automatically blocked at the level of a block chain agreement if the transfer of a monetized asset initiated by a multinational enterprise fails to meet the pre-established compliance white list conditions or triggers a dynamically updated black list of sanctions. this regulatory infrastructure innovation, which transforms the legal logic into an immutable code logic, not only reduces significantly the cost of compliance certification for transnational businesses, but also provides infrastructure security for legitimate capital flows under more extreme macro shocks. this marks a fundamental shift in the regulatory paradigm from &ldquao; ex post facto &rdquao; towards &ldquao; prior embedding &rdquao。DFCRCThe estimates in the report suggest that, if the regulatory framework is clear, monetized financial markets can generate tens of billions of Australian dollars in economic gains for Australia, and that the release of digital asset potential is dependent on regulatory infrastructure development9I don't know。
5Summary and the way forward
while monetization technologies are driving a bottom-up restructuring of the global financial infrastructure, macro-geographic conflicts and persistent high economic policy uncertainty have become pressure tests for this emerging value vector. in sharp fluctuations, pure & ldquo in the encrypted market; narrative bubble & rdquo; and progressive divestment of unroot-based assets, where market attention and liquidity are accelerating towards real-value-supported tokens。
This study shows that sustainable tokens with genuine cyclical capability usually have several distinct features:
First, it provides a real anchor of proceeds and introduces the credit of the underlying asset into the chain
Second, it can substantially reduce the implementation costs of cross-border trading contracts and re-establish commercial trust through programmability
Thirdly, it acts as a decentrized network security budget, the value of which is deposited in the ecological efficiency of actual usage and reduction efficiency。Such tokens are not speculative symbols that are out of step with reality, but rather value vehicles embedded in real economic activity capable of carrying specific functions, revenue relationships or rights arrangements。
At present, the global regulatory framework has shifted from an early passivity block to an active embedded rulemaking. The regulators are carefully mainstreaming high-quality digital assets into the clearing system through the coded classification rules and compliance。
In the face of this irreversible financial evolution, the following recommendations are made for the various market participants:
For enterprises, chain assets should be seen as an infrastructure tool to improve global liquidity efficiency. In the context of cross-border settlements, priority is given to the use of compliance and stabilization currencies to reduce the risk of exchange rate fluctuations and system friction; at the same time, a strict distinction needs to be made between high-variant original and highly regulated supporting currencies and a differentiated fund management strategy。
for issuers and financial institutions, the old-age logic of “ currency of issuance, finance ” must be completely rejected. the focus of digital asset design should be fully shifted to “ rights embedded to ” — — clear and unmistakable definition of asset attributes in bottom smart contracts and active adoptionCOMPLIANCE-ORIENTED TOKEN STANDARDS SUCH AS ERC-3643 PROVIDE TRANSPARENT, REAL-TIME AUDITABLE VALUE PROOF AND REAL RESERVE SUPPORT TO MARKETS。
for policymakers, the precautionary principle of technology neutrality was recommended to promote & ldquo; compliance, the code ” and regulatory paradigm innovation. in keeping with the protection against transnational money-laundering and systemic financial risks, it has led to the building of uniform accounts based on multilateral consensus, the deeper integration of state sovereignty and programmable technology and the construction of the next generation of financial infrastructure adapted to the digital economy。
