![[Research Brief] Apr 22 | The Rise of RWA and AI Trust Infrastructure… Spotlight on Bitcoin Supply-Demand Dynamics and a Global Regulatory Overhaul](https://advertise.tokenpost.kr/images/covers/research_en.jpg)
This week’s crypto-asset research spotlighted three core agendas: a DeFi reshaping powered by real-world assets (RWA), AI-agent payment/identity infrastructure, and stronger regulation focused on anti-money laundering (AML) alongside more rigorous market data. Tiger Research and Kaiko Research respectively examined the integration of on-chain Treasury assets into DeFi supply chains, liquidity recovery after macro shocks, and the reliability issues around market-cap calculations. Additional analysis covered the legislative outlook for the CLARITY Act, Bitcoin’s (BTC) $80,000 support level, and KYA (Know Your Agent) infrastructure—signaling broader structural shifts across the market.
■ Exilist
[Why the CLARITY Act Is Likely to Pass in July 2026]
The report notes that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) passed the House on July 17, 2025, by 294–134 and is currently pending before the Senate Banking Committee, concluding that the legislative bottleneck is effectively the final variable. As House procedures were completed as of April 24, 2026, market attention is expected to focus on the Senate committee’s discussion schedule and the likelihood of passage in July.
■ Crypto.com
[Top Crypto Assets to Watch in May]
The report assesses that Bitcoin (BTC) recorded an 11-week high of $79,449 in late April, increasing the probability of a break above $80,000. For XRP, the deadline for processing amendments to the CLARITY Act set for May 21 is highlighted; for Ethereum (ETH), ETF inflows and the Glamsterdam upgrade are key watch items. In May, institutional accumulation and regulatory events are expected to drive price direction.
[Bitcoin Reclaims $81,000, Shakes Off False-Breakout Fears and Pushes Toward $84,000]
Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from a Middle East-driven flash dip within two days and reclaimed the $81,000 level. The report suggests institutional ETF demand absorbed roughly $4 million per hour of short-term holder (STH) selling. If $80,000 solidifies as a new support level, attempts to break above $84,500 could follow, with institutional flows seen as a more important variable than short-term negative headlines.
■ Tiger Research
[Payments 3.0: AI Agent Payments Market Analysis]
The report argues that as AI agents increasingly execute contracts, payments, and transactions on behalf of humans, competition to set payment standards has restarted. With eight standard protocols announced in 2025 alone, the payments market may shift from card-network-centric structures toward a blend of agent-to-agent (A2A) payments and blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.
[DeFi Without Dopamine Revives Through RWA]
The report observes that as Aave V3’s USDC deposit rate fell to 2.7%—below the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield of 4.3%—the high-yield narrative that once powered DeFi has weakened. However, RWAs and stablecoins are connecting external yield sources on-chain, pushing DeFi beyond token-circulation dynamics toward deeper integration with real financial infrastructure.
[Nexus: Rewriting the Lessons of FTX for the Age of AI Agents]
The report contends that both the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of FTX stemmed from unverifiable financial structures, underscoring the need for zero-knowledge-proof (ZKP)-based “verifiable finance.” Nexus aims to launch its mainnet in Q2 2026 with a structure combining a Layer 1 (L1), an exchange, and USDX. As AI-agent trading expands, infrastructure that can mathematically verify reserves, liquidations, and order matching is expected to gain strategic value.
[BlackRock’s BUIDL Becomes a $2.63B On-Chain Base Asset]
The report analyzes how BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL has grown into an on-chain base asset worth $2.63 billion and has been integrated into the dollar-product supply chains of DeFi protocols such as Ethena, Ondo, Frax, and Spark. Spark’s decision to allocate $500 million of its $1 billion RWA integration plan to BUIDL suggests that the next wave of tokenized-asset competition will hinge less on selling to investors and more on being adopted as base collateral by protocols.
[2026 Know Your Agent: Agent Identity Infrastructure]
The report argues that KYC (Know Your Customer)—a financial-industry standard since the founding of the FATF in 1989—is insufficient for agent-to-agent (A2A) transactions among AI agents. As ERC-8004, Visa’s TAP framework, and regulatory discussions on AI identity management gain momentum, KYA (Know Your Agent) is poised to emerge as next-generation trust infrastructure for verifying an agent’s origin, permissions, and accountability.
■ Kaiko Research
[One Token, Two Market Caps, a $700M Gap]
The report finds that Hyperliquid’s HYPE market capitalization varied by data provider from $9.5 billion to $10.2 billion—a gap of roughly $700 million. With Bitcoin’s (BTC) market cap down 25% from its early-2026 low and Ethereum’s (ETH) down 35%, the maturing crypto market is increasingly prioritizing verification of circulating-supply calculations over price alone as a key evaluation metric.
[From the Fed Shock to an Oil Price Surge: Numbers Supporting Early 2026]
The report argues that from January to mid-April 2026, crypto traded not as an independent asset class but as part of macro and geopolitical risk. While oil surged about 60% due to Middle East factors, Bitcoin’s (BTC) 30-day volatility fell from 47% to 39%. Meanwhile, BTC-USDT perpetual futures open interest (OI) declined from $5.05 billion to $3.27 billion and then recovered to $4.62 billion, indicating improving market resilience.
[Robinhood Front-Running: On-Chain Evidence of Pre-Positioning]
The report detected signs that, ahead of Robinhood’s listing announcements, certain assets such as LIT saw early increases in open interest (OI), funding rates, and large-order volumes. In the six hours before LIT’s listing, Binance perpetual futures OI rose 15%, and large-order trading volume (orders ≥ $10,000) reached 3.6× the average—likely intensifying debate around information asymmetry and market surveillance.
■ CertiK Research
[Skynet Intelligence Report: Digital Asset Regulatory Landscape]
The report states that digital-asset regulation has moved beyond the design phase into enforcement, with AML-related penalties imposed on crypto assets and associated financial institutions surpassing $900 million as of H1 2025. By mid-2025, cumulative losses from on-chain attacks exceeded $2.17 billion, and 80% of the major incident-affected protocols had not undergone prior audits—suggesting future competitiveness will depend more on compliance, security, and operational controls than on the pace of innovation.