Coinbase has entered the S&P 500, big companies are targeting RWA, and institutions are starting to "FOMO"

In the recent crypto market, good news comes one after another.

On the macro side, the Sino-US joint statement marked the end of the tariff war, and the global financial market ushered in a big rise. Although Bitcoin fell under the expectation, the counterfeit market showed a thriving trend. Ethereum continued to lead the rise, hitting $2,700. The Defi sector rose in full swing, attracting a slogan of returning to the counterfeit season.

In addition to improving the macro environment, in addition to the favorable supervision, new trends have also been ushered in the industry. On May 13, Coinbase Global, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be included in the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial Services, which will be acquired by Capital One Financial, a change that will take effect before trading begins on May 19.

In the mainstream market, the crypto industry has once again achieved milestones, marking the sailing of a new era in the industry. At the same time, companies and institutions from all over the world are also eager to try.

On May 12, the tariff truce agreement reached by China and the United States in Geneva finally temporarily put a quit on the protracted trade conflict. The agreement includes suspending the 24% mutual tariff for 90 days, retaining the 10% basic tax rate, and establishing a third-country consultation mechanism. Affected by this news, the U.S. stock index rose significantly, with S&P 500 futures rising by more than 3%, and Nasdaq closed up 4.35%.

Although Bitcoin fell from $106,000 to hit a low of $100,700, the crypto market as a whole has quickly rebounded, and altcoins led by ETH, SOL, BNB, etc. have all gained a lot. With the end of the tariffs, this news will gradually slow down in the face of market impact, the market will begin to return to normal, and the bottom prices of currencies show an upward trend.

The macro side has improved, and the industry is not to be outdone. Recently, positive news about the industry has been frequently reported. First, the US state government’s strategic reserves have won the first victory. New Hampshire passed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserves Act, which authorized state fiscal officials to purchase Bitcoin or digital assets with a market value of more than US$500 billion, and set a holding cap to 5% of the total reserve funds. Bitcoin is expected to usher in new growth. Second, the new SEC chairman took office and made it clear that the core priority during his term is to establish a reasonable crypto asset market supervision framework and continue to release positive signals. BlackRock is also rumored to be discussing ETH pledge proposals with the SEC, and market confidence has rebounded.

The improvement of macroscopic improvement and regulatory improvement have taken a two-pronged approach. The crypto companies that are in it have undoubtedly arrived at the best times.

Just on May 13, according to official news, Coinbase Global, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be included in the S&P 500 index. This is also the first time that crypto companies have been included in the S&P, and have achieved another success in the mainstreaming of the crypto industry.

For the crypto market, Coinbase is not as well-known as it is. As the largest and well-known crypto exchange in the United States, Coinbase is also a unique existence in the global crypto exchange field. Coinbase was founded in 2012 and has a history of 13 years. In the past 13 years, its ups and downs between bulls and bears have become the best window for the traditional financial observation and encryption industry.

In 2021, Coinbase landed on Nasdaq with the stock code COIN. Not only was it not the same on the day of listing, the crypto concept stock Canaan and Pan broke the issue price, but the stock price also soared, reaching a high of US$429.54, causing a sensation in the market. After that, Coinbase followed the industry cycle fluctuations, and its stock price was closely related to the direction of the crypto market. The trough in 2023 fell to $33.26, and then it returned to its growth. As time comes this year, Coinbase has made another history, replacing Discover Financial Services and becoming the first crypto company to be included in the S&P 500. Affected by this, Coinbase rose 24% on the first day and is now at $256.90.

Interestingly, when Srategy was included in the Nasdaq 100, it was regarded as the most promising company to be selected for the S&P 500, but due to the cumulative net profit requirements of the S&P 500, it was slightly inferior in competitiveness. However, at that time, market analysis did not include Coinbase as the core consideration. However, Coinbase steadily overtook and won this milestone in May.

Although there is no pull-out effect in the short term and the symbolic significance is more prominent, in the long run, crypto companies can enter major U.S. indexes, which represent the recognition of the mainstream market, lays the foundation for the integration of the crypto industry and traditional finance, and opens up a broad space for mainstreaming the crypto industry. Specifically, this move not only expands capital flows based on index allocation from the perspective of individual stocks, but will also serve as a sample of typical companies to enhance the awareness of the crypto industry, which is expected to further attract and expand traditional investors. Compared with the Discover Financial Services it will replace, the company's passive demand allocation can reach US$13.5 billion under the index weight of 0.1%.

On the other hand, this move has further boosted the craze for IPOs in crypto enterprises. Since last year, many companies such as Circle, eToro, Bgin Blockchain, Chia Network, Gemini, and lonic Digital have been promoting IPOs. Kraken has been resetting its organizational structure to meet regulatory needs. Coinbase has become a typical example.

This is the Wall Street organization in a hurry to take advantage of the crypto dividend, and that is the Hong Kong company, which is also eager to try. Unlike the US crypto companies that are hitting IPOs, institutions are slightly different from buying coins with real money ETFs. Hong Kong, which is named as a financial center, is more cautious, and companies pay more attention to physical collaboration and are aiming at the RWA track. After the Ensemble project launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) launched the tokenization sandbox pilot, Hong Kong's RWA track pressed the acceleration button again.

Judging from the progress, the trend of leading companies in major companies is prominent, and they have made frequent moves in recent months. JD Coin Chain Technology, a subsidiary of JD.com, which has attracted much attention for entering stablecoins, has begun to form a team. Previously, it published a number of RWA-related job recruitment information on recruitment websites such as BOSS Direct Recruitment and Liepin, recruiting asset management system product director and solution director, responsible for the asset management system design, asset acquisition and industrialization of new energy asset RWA. In addition, Bilink has announced a cooperation with licensed virtual bank Tianxing Bank to provide financial compliance support for JD.com to explore cross-border payment solutions based on stablecoins. According to Dr. Shen Jianguang, vice president of JD Group, JD stablecoin is a decentralized commercial issuance at the company level, and it fluctuates slightly due to the macro economy. JD issuing stablecoins to further enhance JD's global supply chain and cross-border payment capabilities.

JD.com is still in its organizational structure, while Ant Digital Technology is progressing faster, and actual cases have been implemented. Last year, Ant Digital Technology cooperated with green energy service provider GCL Energy Technology to successfully complete the first domestic RWA case involving RMB 200 million in photovoltaic physical assets, and in the future, it cooperated with Conflux Treemap Chain, Xunying Group, Sui and other projects to promote the implementation of RWA's actual projects.

In addition to large factories, exchanges and institutions are also making intensive arrangements. In March this year, HashKey Chain, a local Hong Kong enterprise, successfully deployed the tokenized US dollar money market fund CPIC Estable MMF initiated and managed by China Taiping Investment Management (Hong Kong) on ​​the chain. The Hong Kong dollar and US dollar money market ETF tokenization plan announced jointly with Bose Fund (International) Co., Ltd. also announced that it has been approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission (SFC). As of now, HashKey Chain has conducted in-depth docking with more than 200 institutions, and has reached RWA cooperation intentions in many fields such as traditional financial institutions, asset management companies, technology companies and Web3 native projects.

The technical infrastructure is becoming more complete, and broker support is also following. Recently, Guotai Junan International stated that the wealth management-related business plan submitted in January covers the types of tokenized securities including structural products linked to multiple target assets, funds recognized by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and non-accredited funds and bonds. According to the "Circular on Intermediaries to engage in Tokenized Securities Related Activities" issued by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission issued a confirmation email on May 7, 2025, which means that the business plan has been confirmed by regulators without further problems. Just today, Tiger Securities (Hong Kong) also announced the launch of a cryptocurrency deposit service, supporting virtual currency deposit, transaction and withdrawal.

Overall, whether it is the IPO of American crypto companies or the promotion of RWA by local Hong Kong companies, at the moment when the crypto industry is gradually becoming more formalized, companies and institutions have shown a positive attitude of layout, but given the differences in the region, the participation methods are slightly different.

Due to the high degree of clear regulatory environment in the United States, existing leaders have strong support, showing a trend of inactivity in regulation and current market. Institutions and enterprises have simpler and more crude methods of participation. For example, institutions have bought ETFs in a large scale, becoming the main supporter of currency prices. For example, Strategy has built a new paradigm by borrowing debts and buying coins, which has triggered a boom, causing smaller listed companies to try to break through with cryptocurrencies to gain popularity to increase stock prices. For example, large institutions such as Block, PayPal and Visa have entered the market with stable coins, seize market share, and build a business matrix. The company's positive response is faster. Strategy's inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 and Coinbase on the S&P 500 undoubtedly represents the entry of new buyers.

 Strategy\'s stock price soars in the past year

Compared with this, Hong Kong is more conservative. Although policy unity and consistency are maintained very well, Hong Kong's supervision of virtual assets continues to improve, and steadily promotes the application and pilot of tokenization, clear and strict compliance requirements mean that Hong Kong can only make small steps, rather than taking on big plans and centralized charges. It requires exercise of market power in a policy context. Therefore, enterprises and institutions mostly adhere to the principle of compliance. Although Hong Kong ETFs are also booming, their voices are limited. More institutions take business as the main line and develop through sector extension and development, and related businesses enter the fast lane, but the profit points have not yet been fully reflected.

Against this background, the focus of the trends of the mainland market is continuing to increase, and the opening of on-site funds is the focus of attention. There were even rumors recently that the mainland is expected to open paper BTC spot ETFs in the future, that is, book transactions that do not conduct spot delivery, similar to paper gold model. This move can not only participate in cryptocurrency transactions under the compliance control of funds, but also avoid actual holdings, and the transactions are transparent and verifiable. Of course, rumors are just rumors. Considering the risks of cryptocurrencies to the financial market, especially under the current regulations, the feasibility can only be described as a fantasy, but it can also be seen that the market has expressed considerable expectations for the opening of mainland funds.

It can be foreseen that as the mainstreaming of crypto assets increases, the number of companies involved will increase, and funds, attention and resources will further pour into the market. This round of institutional FOMO wave has just begun.