If you thought stablecoins were the hottest and the latest breakthrough on the crypto scene then you may have some catching up to do, as investors are already looking beyond the currency-pegged digital assets.

As reported by the FT, there is a growing interest in tokenized versions of money market and Treasury bond mutual funds as firms look for new revenue channels.

Based on figures by data group RWA.xyz, the paper says total assets held in tokenized treasury products have jumped to $7.4 billion this year, showing an 80% increase from last year.

“Funds run by BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Janus Henderson have grown particularly rapidly, with combined assets tripling,” according to the report.

Fund tokenization is on the rise in general as the industry continues to digitalize, allowing new investors to use blockchain technology to break assets into smaller tradable tokens.

And because of the flexibility and the simplicity that comes with blockchain, smaller investors are also able to make their way into the funds market, allowing more diversification.

Pakistan’s crypto ambitions

In a latest effort to salvage a crumbling economy and mounting debt, Pakistani authorities have revealed their latest charm offensive to grab the attention of certain figures in Washington’s power corridors.

Senior figures have ramped up talks of turning the country into a hub for blockchain technology and bitcoin mining that would rival other regional competitors.

According to reports, the move is partly intended at establishing friendlier terms with the Trump administration and avoiding the consequences of the President’s tariffs policy.

Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, was quoted by the FT saying: “Pakistan has been quite smart about getting the administration’s attention, capitalising on its broader global interests in crypto and critical minerals and pitching its own offerings.”

The country has recently established a crypto council, appointed former Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao as a strategic adviser on digital assets and promised to allocate 2,000MW of electricity to kick-start its bitcoin mining plans.

EU’s stablecoin conundrum

We discussed the warning from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on the use of stablecoins and the the risk they post to markets stability in last week’s wrap.

Since then, experts have argued that certain regions, such as the EU, might be misguided in their fear of stablecoins, and that it might be time for the bloc to embrace the digital tokens.

Writing for the FT, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, chair of Société Générale and a former member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, advises that “stablecoins should be understood for what they are: a technological breakthrough with profound implications for the financial system.”

There are multiple benefits of stablecoins, according to the author. They make instant cross-border payments possible at a lower cost, can support financing public debt, and the technology itself is a sign of market modernization and efficiency.

Despite impressive regulatory frameworks such as the MiCA, the EU stills lags behind the US and almost all the major stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar.

This is partly because, apart from the regulators, politicians in the US have been on the front foot in embracing stablecoins, which in return has drawn in private investment and institutional interest.

Hong Kong ordinance

Speaking of stablecoins, the government in Hong Kong has announced that its Stablecoins Ordinance will take effect from August 1 this year.

It’s a major step in the country’s efforts to establish a licensing regime for the digital assets and also supervise activities in stablecoins.

You can read more about the ordinance in our GRIP contributors’ article published last week.

US’s crypto cops

And finally, Bloomberg has reported that the US Secret Service has been able to seize around $400m in digital assets over the past decade, in an ongoing effort to fight global crypto scams.

Experts have told the outlet the agency has been quietly using open-source tools, blockchain analysis, and patience to trace transactions.

“In one case, a cryptocurrency payment led investigators to another wallet. In another one, a brief VPN failure exposed an IP address, helping agents piece together the scam’s digital trail,” CoinTelegraph has said, based on Bloomberg’s report.

And some of the techniques scammers use, despite being considered trademark scam traps, still work. These include scammers luring investors to a platform, giving them some profits initially before shutting down the platform and vanishing along with investors’ funds.

According to data by the FBI, crypto-related scams account for more than half of the $16.6 billion that Americans lost to internet crimes in 2024.