Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:
- Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad explains how EU regulatory clarity could allow tokenized markets to grow
- Andy Baehr tells BNB to ‘dress up’
- The headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
- “Bitcoin declines narrow as markets mature” in chart of the week
-Alexandra Lévis
Expert Views
Europe’s role in the next wave of tokenization
– By Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad, CEO of Bitpanda
Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has moved from buzzword to business case. This has become the foundation for institutional adoption of blockchain. In the first half of 2025 alone, the value of tokenized RWAs jumped 260%, reaching $23 billion in on-chain value. Over the past few years, the sector has seen rapid and sustained growth, enough to move tokenization from an experimental concept to a central pillar of digital asset infrastructure. This speaks to a structural change in the way financial markets are constructed and ultimately expanded.
Tokenization is emerging as the foundation for institutional adoption of blockchain, with BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs having publicly explored or deployed related initiatives and large institutions validating its potential. Despite this dynamic, growth remains constrained. Most assets are still integrated into licensed systems, segmented by regulatory uncertainty and limited interoperability. Scalable public network infrastructure remains underdeveloped, slowing the move from institutional pilot projects to mass market participation. In short, tokenization is working, but the market rails to support global adoption are still under construction.
What is missing? Regulation, as a catalyst. Institutions need clarity before committing to reviews and developing long-term strategies. Retail investors need transparent rules that protect them without excluding them. Markets need standards they can trust. Without these elements, liquidity remains low, systems remain siled, and innovation struggles to move beyond early adopters.
Europe has undoubtedly become a leader in this area. With MiCA now in force and the DLT pilot regime enabling structured experimentation in digital security, the region has moved beyond fragmented sandboxes. The European market is the first to implement a unified continent-wide regulatory framework for tokenized assets. Instead of viewing compliance as an obstacle, the region has turned regulatory clarity into a competitive advantage. It provides the legal, operational and technical certainty that institutions need to innovate with confidence and at scale.
The continent’s regulatory approach is already generating tangible momentum. Under MiCA and the EU’s DLT pilot regime, banks have started issuing tokenized bonds on regulated infrastructure, with European issuance surpassing €1.5 billion in 2024 alone. Asset managers are testing on-chain fund structures designed for retail distribution, while fintechs are integrating digital asset rails directly into licensed platforms. Together, these developments mark the move from pilot programs to actual deployment, reducing one of the industry’s longest-standing bottlenecks: the ability to build compliant infrastructure from day one.
A new phase: interoperability and market structure
The next frontier of tokenization will depend on interoperability and shared standards, areas where the clarity of European regulations could once again set the tone. As more institutions bring tokenized products to market, fragmented liquidity pools and proprietary frameworks risk recreating the silos of traditional finance in digital form.
While traditional finance has spent years optimizing for speed, the next wave of tokenization will be shaped by trust in who builds and governs the infrastructure, as well as whether institutions and retail players can trust it. Europe’s clarity on rules and market structure gives it a credible opportunity to set global standards rather than simply follow them.
The EU can strengthen this position by encouraging interoperability between chains and common disclosure standards. Establishing common rules early would allow tokenized markets to grow without repeating the fragmentation that slowed previous financial innovations.
Headlines of the week
– By Francisco Rodrigues
President Donald Trump’s surprise nomination of Kevin Warsh to head the Fed introduced new variables that shook markets. The precious metals rally was marked by a sell-off, while cryptocurrency prices underwent a major correction, with major players nonetheless scrambling to capture value.
Checking the ambiance
Get dressed, BNB
– By Andy Baehr, Head of Product and Research, CoinDesk Indices
Last week’s CoinDesk 20 (CD20) reconstitution introduced BNB to the index for the first time. It wasn’t about size: BNB has long been one of the largest digital assets by market capitalization. This was to meet the liquidity and other requirements that govern the inclusion of CD20. For the first time, BNB has overcome these obstacles.
The result? One of the largest compositional changes since the index launched in January 2024. BNB enters the CD20 with a weighting above 15%, making it an immediate heavyweight in the lineup.
From a portfolio construction perspective, this is a significant change. BNB has historically exhibited lower volatility than CD20 as a whole, which could reduce the overall risk profile of the index. Its correlation with other index components has been moderate rather than gradual (at least until recently), which adds diversification benefit. The potential result: a less risky and more diversified index.
Of course, adding a big name means pushing other constituents down the weight scale, even with the capping mechanisms used by CD20. Pie charts tell this story clearly: existing assets are being squeezed to make room for the new arrival.
As crypto enters what we call its “second year” of institutional maturity, the CoinDesk 20 is entering its own third year of existence. The index moves based on the market it is intended to capture.
Sunday scares (real or imaginary?)
Last weekend was difficult. Bitcoin has been trading below $75,000, billions in liquidations have been recorded, and if you’re in crypto you’ve probably seen it happening in real time. Whether you consider 24/7 market access a blessing or a curse, it is now simply a reality.
After a few weekends like this, it’s starting to look like a trend – as if crypto is absorbing the world’s worries while traditional markets sleep. So we decided to test this sentiment against the data.
The scatterplot shows the daily returns of the CoinDesk 20, with weekend movements highlighted separately. Yes, there are some cases of disproportionate drops on Saturdays and Sundays. But there are also a lot of quiet weekends – and a lot of weekday chaos that doesn’t fit the narrative.
This may be memory inflation. Painful weekends remain more engraved in our minds than calm weekends. The drama of seeing markets evolve while others are not paying attention amplifies the psychological weight. Data suggests that Sunday scares may be more of a perception than a trend.
Yet after a weekend like this, the feeling is real even if the statistical significance isn’t. We continue to index it all – tracking what’s happening, measuring what matters, and trying to separate signal from sentiment.
Chart of the week
Bitcoin declines narrow as markets mature
Bitcoin’s peak-to-trough declines have gradually compressed over time, from -84% in the first epoch (after the first halving) to a current cycle high of -38% in early 2026. This persistent reduction in “peak pain” suggests a structural shift toward market maturity, as institutional capital and spot ETFs establish a more stable price floor compared to the 80%+ crashes driven by retail trading in previous eras. Historically, bitcoin has taken approximately 2 to 3 years (approximately 700 to 1,000 days) to fully recover from major cycle lows to new highs, although the speed of recovery has recently increased, with Epoch 3 returning to its peak in just 469 days.
Listen. Read. Watch. Get involved.
Looking for more? Get the latest crypto news at PK Press Club.com and explore our robust data and index offerings by visiting PK Press Club.com/institutions.
