Stablecoin developer Ethena Labs and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization company Securitize are launching a new blockchain for retail and institutional investors seeking access to the DeFi and tokenization economies. 

According to a March 17 announcement, the forthcoming Converge blockchain is an Ethereum Virtual Machine that will provide retail investors with access to “standard DeFi applications.” It will also specialize in institutional-grade offerings that will help bridge traditional finance with DeFi opportunities. 

The Converge blockchain is announced at the Tokenize NYC conference on March 17. Source: Cointelegraph

Converge will launch with various product offerings, including Ethereal, Morpho, Maple Labs, Pendle and Aave Labs’ Horizon. 

Converge’s RWA infrastructure will benefit from Securitize’s growing presence in the tokenization market, with nearly $2 billion minted across various blockchains. The company recently announced that BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) has surpassed $1 billion in net assets one year after launch. 

The Converge blockchain will receive custodial support from Anchorage and Copper as well as custodial support from Securitize’s latest partner, RedStone.

On the DeFi side, Converge will allow users to stake Ethena’s native governance token, ENA. Ethena’s USDe (USDE) and USDtb stablecoins will serve as the network’s gas tokens.  

Related: BlackRock CEO wants SEC to ‘rapidly approve’ tokenization of bonds, stocks: What it means for crypto

Institutional DeFi on the rise

Institutional DeFi — when traditional financial institutions adopt regulatory-compliant DeFi systems — appears to be gaining traction as companies look to optimize their operations and access new yield opportunities. 

Even JPMorgan, once a blockchain and Bitcoin (BTC) skeptic, said institutional DeFi “has the potential for growth and transformative impact.”

RWAs are accelerating this trend, with the likes of McKinsey forecasting a $2 trillion tokenization market by 2030.

As Neoclassic Capital co-founder Michael Bucella noted in an interview with Cointelegraph, RWAs are attracting big investors because they address “pricing inefficiencies” in both traditional and digital assets. 

“To TradFi, that is mispriced credit facilities (i.e., cost of capital) or exposure to underpriced volume. To crypto-native, that is low-volume, secure assets,” said Bucella.

Including stablecoins, which are onchain representations of fiat currencies, the total RWA market has exceeded $240 billion, according to industry data. 

Excluding stablecoins, the total value of RWAs onchain is fast approaching $20 billion across more than 90,500 holders, according to RWA.xyz. 

The new issuance volume of RWA shows a significant growth in stablecoins, US Treasury and private credit debt. Source: RWA.xyz

Related: Bitwise makes first institutional DeFi allocation

Bitcoin (BTC) has undergone its second-largest correction of this bull run, according to analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex. The correction, from the coin’s all-time high of $109,590 set on Jan. 20 to a low of $77,041 during the week of March 9-15, represents a 30% retracement triggered by selling pressure from short-term holders.

In its report, Bitfinex defines short-term holders as those who have bought within the last seven to 30 days. According to the exchange, they have suffered net unrealized losses and are often more subject to capitulation.

Bitfinex notes that ongoing outflows from Bitcoin ETFs, which totaled around $920 million during the week of March 9-15, suggest that institutional buyers have not yet returned with enough strength to combat selling pressure.

Bitcoin capital flow by short-term holders. Source: Glassnode/Bitfinex

Trading at around $84,357, Bitcoin has rebounded 9.5% from its low. According to Bitfinex, a key factor moving forward will be whether institutional demand picks up at these lower levels, potentially leading to supply absorption and price stabilization.

“While institutional flows and the macro situation is pivotal for market direction in the mid-term, statistically, a 30 percent drawdown has often marked the low before continuation higher,” Bitfinex analysts told Cointelegraph. “If Bitcoin stabilizes around this level, history suggests a strong recovery could follow.”

Bitcoin ETPs see $5.4B in outflows over five weeks

Weekly outflows from crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have reached a streak of five weeks, totaling $6.4 billion as of March 14. According to data from CoinShares, Bitcoin ETPs have borne the brunt of outflows, with $5.4 billion in losses.

The current macroeconomic climate may be weighing on the markets, according to Bitfinex. US consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in two years, and there are expectations of higher inflation along with economic uncertainty. On March 4, a Federal Reserve’s model predicted that the US economy would shrink by 2.8% in the first quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, talks of trade wars continue to dominate the news, putting Bitcoin’s status as a safe-haven asset in doubt, keeping miners on their toes, and perhaps putting the bull market in peril — despite the White House’s recent announcement of a US Bitcoin strategic reserve and digital asset stockpile.

Magazine: X Hall of Flame, Benjamin Cowen: Bitcoin dominance will fall in 2025

Ethereum price is more than 52% down from its December 2024 high at $4,107 and data from TradingView shows ETH (ETH) down 42% since the start of 2025. 

Despite being one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and holding the dominant spot as the leader in Web3 and DeFi, many analysts believe that ETH’s price prospects remain grim in the short term. 

Crypto analyst and chartered market technician Askel Kibar warned traders against assuming that ETH price trades at a discount simply based on how far off it is from its average trading price. 

On X, Kibar explained that “bottom reversals take time” given that “ all that supply needs to be accumulated.” 

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: X / Aksel Kibar

Referring to the chart above, Kibar said, 

“Those of you that want to see ETH outperform BTC need to see similar price action to 2018-2020 period. After an extending downtrend price formed a double bottom late in 2019. Then it turned out to a larger scale H&S bottom reversal.” 

Currently, ETH’s chart does not show any type of bottoming formation, leading Kibar to compare trading Ethereum to “catching a falling knife.” 

Standard Chartered chops 2025 ETH price to $4,000

Standard Chartered added to the dim outlook via a March 17 client letter, which revised down their end of 2025 ETH price estimate from $10,000 to $4,000, a drastic 60% reduction.

Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of Digital Assets Research, said, “We expect ETH to continue its structural decline.” Adding that:

“Layer 2 blockchains were meant to improve ETH scalability, but we estimate that Base (a key layer 2) has removed USD 50bn from ETH’s market cap.” 

Kendrick cited lower ETH fees, a “higher net issuance,” and layer 2 blockchains “taking Ethereum’s GDP” as an unexpected result of the Dencun upgrade. 

Adding to their observation of Base absorbing Ethereum’s fee revenue, Kendrick said, 

“In particular, Base — a layer 2 that was developed to address the problem of scalability on Ethereum— is passing all the profit (fee revenue minus data recording fees) it extracts to Coinbase, its corporate owner.” 

Related: Long-term Ethereum accumulation could unwind if ETH price falls below $1.9K — Analyst

VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel and Patrick Bush, the firm’s Senior Analyst on Digital Assets, concur with the dim ETH price view held by many analysts. In a March 5 note to investors, the researchers cited ETH’s decline as being “largely due to the erosion of the core factors that once made Ethereum valuable.” 

The analysts again cited layer 2 blockchains Arbitrum and Base as catalysts in diminishing ETH’s fee revenue, along with the popularity of memecoin trading on the Solana blockchain.  

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.