Recently, I have been thinking about an interesting phenomenon— it seems that the traditional energy-asset linkage mechanism is changing.

The pattern over the past years (2018-2024) was very clear: oil prices fall → inflation expectations decline → central bank easing expectations follow → risk assets like cryptocurrencies rise. This transmission chain was particularly stable.

But by 2025-2026, the game rules seem to be redefining themselves. While falling oil prices still impact the fiscal revenues of oil-producing countries, the subsequent divergence has changed:

One is the traditional route—reducing government spending → economic slowdown → risk aversion, which has been a common script in history.

The other is the new reality—oil-producing countries are accelerating their deployment of digital assets, seeking excess returns through allocations in cryptocurrencies and on-chain assets. This is the highlight of this year.

Let’s look at the current specifics. Venezuela has already increased its digital asset holdings to 9% of its foreign exchange reserves; Iran’s Bitcoin mining capacity accounts for 8.2% of the global hash rate; Russia’s digital asset trading volume grew by 340% year-over-year in 2025. These figures are no small waves.

For oil-producing countries, the pressure is indeed significant. Foreign exchange reserves face devaluation risks and need diversification. Traditional dollar reserves are no longer as attractive, and digital assets are becoming a new option. There are three clear trends here: first, the acceleration of foreign exchange reserve diversification; second, exploration of commodity tokenization; and third, the redesign of cross-border payment systems.

The digital transformation of the petrodollar circulation has become a key issue. What do oil-producing countries need? A reliable on-chain custody solution capable of managing these new digital asset allocations. At the same time, they need to support the tokenization of commodities (such as oil receivables) as collateral. This allows oil buyers to make direct digital payments, with funds flowing into custody solutions and ultimately reaching the sellers, greatly improving the efficiency of cross-border transactions.

This sovereign-level digital asset management demand is opening up a whole new market space.