Crypto stocks rose and fell: RWA broke 33 billion, why did fundamentals buck the trend?

According to Woofun AI, the crypto market was sharply divided in the first half of 2026. Ryan Rasmussen pointed out that while crypto concept stocks rose sharply, mainstream crypto asset prices fell as a whole. This divergence became the core focus of attention of Bitwise research leaders.

At the asset performance level, the data revealed astonishing excess returns and fundamental support. In the first half of 2026, overall crypto assets fell 36%. During the same period, only gold closed down 7%, while the rest of the major assets rose across the board, highlighting the plight of the crypto circuit under pressure alone.

However, crypto concept stocks had a cumulative 23% increase in the first half of the year, outperforming all mainstream assets other than emerging market stocks. The Bitwise Crypto Innovation 30 Index tracks 30 of the top crypto-listed companies, and their yield is more than double that of the US stock market S&P 500.

This data sends a key signal: even in a bear market, the crypto industry is still full of investment opportunities. Bitcoin mining companies benefit from the dividends of the artificial intelligence industry. Stablecoin issuers and asset tokenization platforms continue to undertake Wall Street business, and the degree of integration between traditional finance and the crypto market continues to deepen.

According to data compiled by Woofun AI, as of June 30, 2026, the world's top ten crypto apps have generated a total revenue of 5.9 billion US dollars in the past 12 months, of which the top three PancakeSwap, Hyperliquid, and Aave all had revenue of nearly 1 billion US dollars. Statistics covering the time frame 2025.1.1 to 2026.6.30 show that even during a bear market cycle, these products are still commercial entities with stable cash flow, and revenue sources cover transaction fees, loan interest, and pledge income. Every time someone questions that there are no real fundamentals in the crypto industry, this set of revenue data becomes the strongest rebuttal evidence.

In terms of the racetrack explosion, the scale of tokenization of real world assets (RWA) surged, and the forecast market also set a new record. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made a public statement a few weeks ago, saying that digital assets, stablecoins, asset tokenization, and new payment systems will jointly shape the future of the monetary system. In a sense, the future he described has already arrived. The total amount of tokenized physical assets reached a record high of US$33 billion in the second quarter, up 12% month-on-month in a single quarter and 45% year-to-date. The main drivers of growth are tokenized US bonds, corporate credit, stocks, and venture capital shares. As can be clearly seen from the data, the world's leading asset management institutions are moving physical assets to the blockchain on a large scale, and this trend is worth continuing to track. The chart for the statistical timeframe 2020.1.1 to 2026.6.30 shows that the value of RWA has exploded.

At the same time, it is predicted that the market size will continue to expand. Unclosed positions in the second quarter reached a record high of 1.8 billion US dollars, and sporting events became the core trading category; total quarterly turnover simultaneously set a new record of 43 billion US dollars. Platforms such as Polymarket reflect the covert side of crypto retail adoption: millions of users use underlying cryptographic tools to bet on actual event outcomes, yet the vast majority of users don't know or care about the blockchain technology behind it. As the US midterm elections approach, it is predicted that market turnover and unclosed positions will hit record highs several times this year. 2024 was the election theme that brought the prediction market into the public eye. Since then, the size of the industry has directly tripled. Data for the 2023.1.1-2026.6.30 timeframe confirm this outbreak trajectory.

The allocation value summary shows that crypto concept stocks have the advantage of low correlation and the long-term resilience of the industry. The 90-day rolling correlation analysis between the Bitwise Crypto Innovation 30 Index and major assets revealed that compared to the US stock market, the index is less correlated with most assets. This is the case for developed market stocks, emerging market stocks, US REITs, US bonds, and gold. The only exception is commodities, where the correlation is negative. In short, the return of crypto concept stocks in the first half of 2026 was double that of the US stock market, and was also related to the weakness of the vast majority of assets in the portfolio.

This characteristic of high returns and risk diversification is an allocation target favored by institutional investors. The 90-day rolling correlation comparison data for various assets is as of June 30, 2026. Although the more than 50 charts in the report cannot directly answer the most current market concern, which is whether cryptocurrency prices have bottomed out, all the data together prove that the fundamentals of the crypto industry are extremely resilient. Even during the bear market cycle, user size, business revenue, and institutional adoption continued to grow. The current stage of the industry is extremely valuable for research, and it is also the underlying foundation for the next round of bull markets.