RWA: Building a New World of Public Ledgers for Real Assets

Recently, several centralized institutions and decentralized projects have been actively promoting the development of the RWA track. The current market size of RWA has reached 36.5 billion USD, with a year-on-year growth of about 60%. Although there are still many challenges, the participation of traditional financial giants and the support of various governments are expected to promote RWA in addressing the hollowing out and scaling issues in blockchain finance.

RWA, as a bridge connecting traditional assets and blockchain finance, is reshaping the financial landscape. It not only brings real-world opportunities onto the chain but also has the potential to achieve global borderless asset investment and financial expressions. In the future, we may be able to purchase Nasdaq stocks in Hong Kong during the day, deposit funds into a Russian bank at midnight, and the next day invest in Dubai real estate alongside hundreds of shareholders we have never met.

RWA is expected to build a public ledger world based on real assets, creating a greater boundaryless financial ecosystem.

Recent Market Trends and Key Events

market-related dynamics

1. Market Size Trends

As of April 21, 2025, the total market value of the RWA market has reached $36.5 billion, with a growth of 0.7% within 24 hours. There are over 185 related crypto tokens, with a total market value exceeding $10.62 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 61%. Traditional financial giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity are actively exploring RWA opportunities, and it is expected that the scale of this field will surpass one trillion in the next five years.

2. Regulatory Compliance Advancement

A certain DeFi platform has obtained the VASP license issued by Dubai VARA, becoming the first DeFi platform to receive this license. The platform adopts a dual model that meets regulatory requirements while not restricting innovation. Recently, it also reached a partnership with a well-known real estate developer, planning to tokenize $1 billion in assets.

3. Important Blockchain Cooperation Expansion

A well-known blockchain has announced partnerships with multiple institutions, planning to put $3 billion of real-world assets on-chain by the end of 2025, which is more than a tenfold increase compared to the end of 2024.

4. Integration of RWA Products by Cryptocurrency Payment Companies

A certain cryptocurrency payment company announced that its products will integrate RWAs by collaborating with mainstream providers to introduce traditional financial assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and blue-chip stocks, allowing users in multiple regions to purchase using fiat currency.

5. Launch of Innovative RWA Platform

A certain Bitcoin liquidity protocol has launched the first structured yield market platform based on Bitcoin that integrates RWA, aiming to provide users with highly flexible investment options.

6. RWA Summit Preparation

The RWA REAL UP Dubai Summit 2025, jointly participated by multiple Web3.0 partners, will be held on April 30 in Dubai.

Dynamic Tracking of Technological Innovations

1. A network has launched an interoperable blockchain operating system that supports multi-chain applications, enhancing the liquidity of RWA across different blockchains.

2. A certain company has launched an innovative feature based on ERC-4626 vault technology, enhancing the liquidity and composability of RWA in DeFi.

project financing related updates

1. Plume secured $20 million in funding to build a RWA financial ecosystem.

2. A stablecoin issuer announced an investment in Quantoz, planning to launch a stablecoin that complies with MiCAR standards.

Hong Kong and China's RWA development events

1. A certain public blockchain collaborates with a digital technology company to promote the growth of RWA in Hong Kong, jointly participating in China's first renewable energy battery swapping RWA project.

2. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched the "Digital Bond Grant Scheme" and the "Project Ensemble" sandbox project to support tokenization application experiments.

3. The 2025 Web3 Festival will be held in Hong Kong, with RWA tokenization becoming a key topic.

4. A certain insurance company launched a tokenized US dollar money market fund on a certain blockchain, raising 100 million US dollars on the first day.

Industry Observation and Reflection

The main challenges in the current development of the RWA industry

1. Regulatory uncertainty: Differences in regulations across regions lead to a lack of a unified framework, affecting global promotion.

2. Adoption Barriers: There is a need for a broader user base to accept and use it, currently dominated by institutions.

3. Sustainability and Volatility: Tokenization may trigger excessive speculation, affecting the confidence of long-term investors.

4. Technical challenges: Smart contract vulnerabilities and scalability issues may affect security and reliability.

5. Liquidity Issues: Certain RWAs may still face liquidity shortages after tokenization.

6. Investor confidence: Lack of transparency, security, and regulatory compliance may undermine confidence.

Observation and Reflection

1. Centralized on-chain regulation and decentralized on-chain circulation may be the ultimate expression of RWA.

2. Activating the vitality of the RWA secondary market is key to the industry's takeoff, and the Distributed Identity (DID) system may become an important strategic watershed.

3. RWA can both tokenize traditional finance and traditionalize cryptocurrencies, with the potential to facilitate the process of good money replacing bad money in the cryptocurrency space.