Bitcoin closed the week up 1.6 percent, reaching $62,771, driven by a late-week surge into decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and crypto gaming assets—contrasting with sustained pressure on Layer 2 ecosystems and real-world asset protocols.
On-chain data showed increased liquidity provision and trading volume across DePIN platforms and gaming tokens during the final trading hours. Projects facilitating shared compute, storage and bandwidth—including Render Network and Filecoin—attracted new capital flows.
Gaming protocols built on ImmutableX and Avalanche also registered notable increases in on-chain activity and token price appreciation, signaling speculative interest returning to high-beta sectors, often driven by new in-game asset launches and token emission schedules.
Layer 2 networks saw decreasing bridge flows and reduced TVL across major ecosystems. Arbitrum and Optimism saw stablecoin liquidity shift to other chains or back to Ethereum mainnet, pressured in part by gas fee compression on mainnet Ethereum reducing the urgency to bridge assets—weighing on native token utility and staking yields, particularly for protocols carrying high token inflation.
The RWA trade also pulled back, with tokenized Treasury products including Ondo Finance's OUSG and BlackRock's BUIDL experiencing net outflows. Stablecoin yields on tokenized Treasuries have compressed to an average of 4.2 percent, according to on-chain analytics, making them less competitive against short-term DeFi lending rates in certain markets and prompting capital migration.
The RWA sector will need to move beyond basic tokenized Treasuries to attract significant new capital. Higher-yielding credit products or structured finance instruments could be required to regain a competitive edge against DeFi-native yields.
Token emission schedules in DePIN and gaming projects are providing higher initial incentives for liquidity providers and early adopters, drawing capital seeking higher beta and yield.
The broader market maintained a cautious stance, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index at 27, indicating "Fear." The localized rally in DePIN and gaming represents pockets of strength against a conservative backdrop.
The sustainability of the DePIN and crypto gaming rally depends on continued user adoption and tangible product development beyond speculative token interest. Project roadmaps, upcoming mainnet launches and actual utility will be key factors.
