![[Research Brief] Apr 22 | AI Access Rights, On-Chain Assets, and the Rise of Stablecoin Payment Rails…Market Reshuffle Accelerates](https://advertise.tokenpost.kr/images/covers/research_en.webp)
This week’s digital-asset research highlighted three main topics: access rights to high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized AI (DeAI), the growth of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and its on-chain utilization, and the shift of stablecoins into payment infrastructure. Exilist and a16z crypto research framed, respectively, the risks of centralized platform control and the expansion of asset-tokenization markets as structural changes. Additional coverage included market sentiment entering extreme fear, vulnerabilities in digital credit products, and a hiring reshuffle toward compliance.
■ Exilist
[AI: The Problem Is Access, Not Performance…Exilist on the Anthropic Control Incident and Rising DeAI Demand]
Exilist argued that the core issue in high-performance AI is shifting from raw capability to access rights, citing Anthropic’s June 9 restrictions on access to Claude-family models Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The report noted that Bittensor (TAO) rose about 30% within 12 hours after the move, suggesting decentralized AI (DeAI) and privacy infrastructure could emerge as complements to centralized AI. This indicates that data sovereignty and censorship resistance may form distinct demand segments in the AI market going forward.
■ a16z crypto research
[Tokenized Assets Surge to a $34B Market…a16z crypto research: “The Real Battle Is On-Chain Utility”]
a16z crypto research estimated that the tokenized-asset market (excluding stablecoins) expanded more than tenfold—from under $3B in mid-2024 to roughly $34B recently. However, only about 5% of the $15.2B tokenized-treasury market is used in DeFi, underscoring that the key challenge is not issuance growth but enabling composability and real on-chain use. The next phase will hinge on moving beyond putting assets on-chain to making them function as genuine financial infrastructure.
[Stablecoins Move Beyond a Trading Tool to Financial Infrastructure…a16z crypto research Diagnoses the Shift to Payment Rails]
a16z crypto research found that stablecoins are evolving from an exchange-to-exchange dollar transfer mechanism into financial infrastructure used for real-world payments and B2B settlement. Adjusted transaction volume reached about $4.5T in Q1 2026, while consumer-to-business transactions rose 128%, from 124.9M in 2024 to 284.6M in 2025. This suggests competition is shifting from circulating supply to how quickly payment networks take hold and how well issuers integrate with local payment systems.
■ CoinFeed
[“Extreme Fear” Returns to Crypto…CoinFeed Sees Flows Moving from BTC/ETH to XRP, SOL, and HYPE]
CoinFeed reported that the Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 23, re-entering “extreme fear,” and that Bitcoin (BTC) lost the $64,000 level with weakening rebound momentum. Roughly $600M in long positions were liquidated overnight; meanwhile, Hyperliquid (HYPE) surged 90% over a month, pointing to selective rotation into certain altcoins. For fear to turn into opportunity, the report said the market likely needs confirmation across trading volume, fresh capital inflows, and macro stability.
■ Crypto.com
[Rates Paused—So Why Did Crypto Swing?…Crypto.com Highlights BTC/ETH Weakness and the STRC Shock]
Crypto.com noted that despite the U.S. Federal Reserve holding rates at 3.50–3.75%, BTC fell 3.76% last week and ETH declined 1.16%, diverging from traditional markets. The Bitcoin-linked preferred stock STRC dropped to $88.6 amid margin calls and forced liquidations. Separately, Moody’s rollout of a Solana (SOL)-based credit-rating system was cited as a key example supporting RWA expansion. The takeaway is that crypto’s competitiveness is increasingly shaped not by price momentum alone, but by liquidity, regulatory fit, and the durability of product structures.
■ Tiger Research
[Hiring Is Recovering, but Not Like Before…Tiger Research: Crypto Talent Demand Shifts to “Compliance & Infrastructure”]
Tiger Research analyzed 2,932 active crypto job postings globally as of June 2026 and found engineering remained the largest category (34.1%), while compliance/legal rose to second place on its own (10.4%). New postings in January 2026 were down about 80% year over year, yet centralized exchanges (CEXs) represented 30.8% of openings and stablecoin/payments accounted for 13.4%, indicating demand has pivoted toward regulation and infrastructure. This is interpreted as evidence that the industry is maturing from a speculative expansion phase into regulated financial infrastructure.