GuShiio.com The emergence of the RWA track is breaking the limitations of DeFi. It combines real-world financial assets with blockchain technology, which can not only improve the stability of financial products on the chain, but also bring huge liquidity to the entire market. Increase.
1. In-depth analysis of the RWA track: the growth engine of the encryption market in 2025
In the past few years, decentralized finance (DeFi) has rapidly emerged, creating a financial ecosystem that can operate without the need for a traditional banking system. However, a core problem facing the DeFi field is that the operation of the entire market is still highly dependent on crypto assets (such as BTC, ETH and stablecoins), and lacks sufficient real-world asset (RWA) support, making DeFi’s development has always been limited by the volatility of the crypto market itself. The emergence of the RWA track is breaking this limit. It combines real-world financial assets with blockchain technology, which can not only improve the stability of financial products on the chain, but also bring huge liquidity increases to the entire market. This track is becoming a key bridge for institutional investors and mainstream financial institutions to enter the crypto industry, and may even push the entire blockchain industry into a new growth cycle.
The core concept of RWA is to digitize various assets (such as bonds, real estate, stocks, art, private equity, etc.) in traditional financial markets and convert them into tokenized assets that can be traded, mortgaged or borrowed on the chain through blockchain technology. This process not only enhances the liquidity of assets, but also reduces friction costs in traditional financial markets, such as long transaction clearing times, high intermediary costs, and limited liquidity. Taking the bond market as an example, traditional bond transactions often involve multiple financial institutions and regulatory authorities, and the intermediate links are cumbersome, resulting in high transaction costs. RWA tokenization can achieve real-time clearing on the chain, greatly improve transaction efficiency, and reduce transaction costs. At the same time, due to the transparency and traceability of blockchain, the management of RWA assets is more transparent, which can effectively reduce fraud and improper operations in the market.
As blockchain technology matures and market demand grows, the RWA track is attracting more and more institutions to participate. For example, BlackRock, one of the world’s largest asset managers, recently launched a blockchain-based tokenized fund BUIDL. The fund mainly holds stable assets such as U.S. bonds and provides more efficient transactions through blockchain. In addition, traditional financial giants such as Franklin Templeton are also actively trying to tokenize some of their fund products to make it easier for investors to participate in the market. These cases show that the RWA track is no longer just a “encrypted narrative”, but is becoming a core trend in the digitization of global financial markets.
From a technical perspective, the development of RWA relies on the support of multiple critical infrastructures, including blockchain underlying networks, smart contracts, Oracle, decentralized identity (DID) and compliance management. First of all, as the carrier of RWA assets, the public chain determines the security and operability of assets. Currently, Ethereum is still the preferred network for RWA tokenization. Many institutions deploy smart contracts on Ethereum to manage RWA assets. At the same time, L2 solutions (such as Arbitrum, Optimism) are also becoming popular choices for RWA asset trading to reduce transaction costs and improve throughput. In addition, public chains such as Solana, Avalanche, and Polkadot are also exploring application scenarios for RWA assets, striving to gain market share in this field.
From the perspective of market size, the potential of RWA track is extremely huge. According to research by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), it is estimated that by 2030, the market size of the RWA track will reach US$16 trillion, far exceeding the current total market value of the entire crypto market. Currently, the global real estate market is worth about US$300 trillion, but most real estate investments require high capital and are low in liquidity. If 1% of the assets are tokenized, a US$3 trillion RWA market can be created. Similarly, the global bond market is more than US$120 trillion, and if 1% enters the blockchain, it will form a US$1.2 trillion emerging market.
Institutional funds are accelerating into the RWA track, indicating that the track is no longer a purely “crypto experiment” but is becoming an important part of the global financial system. In 2025, as the Trump administration demonstrates unprecedented support for the crypto industry, this trend will continue and develop. For investors, the RWA track not only provides a new market opportunity, but may also become an important bridge for the integration of the crypto market and traditional financial markets. In the next few years, with the improvement of more infrastructure, the implementation of regulatory frameworks, and the further layout of mainstream financial institutions, the RWA track is expected to become a new growth engine for the blockchain industry and even promote digital transformation of the entire financial market.
Overall, the rise of the RWA track not only represents the maturity of blockchain technology and the expansion of application scenarios, but also means that the global financial market is entering a new stage of decentralization and efficiency. For market participants, how to seize the opportunity of tokenization of RWA assets and lay out infrastructure and key agreements will become the core proposition for the development of the encryption industry in the next few years.
2. Current market environment: Macroeconomics and catalytic factors for RWA development
Against the backdrop of increasing global economic uncertainty, changing liquidity cycles and booming digital asset markets, the RWA (Real-World Assets) track is becoming one of the most important growth points in the crypto industry. With the adjustment of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, the continued impact of inflationary pressures, fluctuations in the debt market, and increased participation of institutions in the crypto market, the development of RWA has ushered in an unprecedented opportunity. At the same time, the shortcomings of the traditional financial system and the increasing maturity of DeFi (decentralized finance) have also promoted the migration of real-world assets up the chain. This article will discuss in depth the development catalytic factors of the RWA track from five aspects: the global macroeconomic situation, liquidity environment, policy supervision trends, institutional admission and the maturity of the DeFi ecosystem.
2.1 Global macroeconomic situation: Changes in inflation, interest rates and market risk aversion
The global macroeconomic environment is one of the most core variables affecting the development of RWA. In recent years, affected by factors such as weak economic recovery after the COVID-19 epidemic, intensified geopolitical conflicts, supply chain problems and central bank policy adjustments, global economic growth has become extremely uncertain. Among them, changes in inflation and interest rate policies have directly affected capital liquidity and investors ‘asset allocation strategies, and have also indirectly promoted the development of the RWA track.
First, from an inflation perspective, the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hike policy in the past two years has had a profound impact on global markets. Since 2022, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates several times in a row to curb high inflation, leading to tightening global liquidity. In a high interest rate environment, investors ‘risk appetite decreases and traditional financial markets are affected, resulting in capital being more inclined to flow into low-risk, high-yield asset classes. This has prompted investors to focus on assets such as treasury bonds, gold, and real estate, and the tokenization of these assets has just become an important growth point for the RWA track. For example, U.S. bond tokenization (such as the OUSG token provided by Ondo Finance) has become an important investment tool in the crypto market due to its high annualized yield (more than 5%), attracting a large inflow of DeFi funds. Secondly, as the global debt crisis intensifies, the RWA track has become an important option for capital hedging. As of 2024, the total global debt has exceeded US$300 trillion, of which U.S. treasury bonds exceed US$34 trillion, and the fiscal deficit has reached a record high. In this case, investors ‘confidence in traditional financial markets has been affected, and they have sought more transparent and efficient financial infrastructure. The de-trust, borderless, and low-cost characteristics provided by blockchain technology have enabled the chain of RWA assets to be transformed into the best solution. In addition, in a high-inflation environment, demand for gold and commodities has surged, and gold tokens (such as PAXG, XAUT) have also become hot assets in the crypto market. Overall, uncertainty in the global economy has increased investor demand for safe-haven assets, and innovations at RWA Track have made these assets more easily accessible to the crypto market, driving the track’s explosive growth.
2.2 Liquidity environment: Federal Reserve policy shifts and changes in market risk appetite
The rapid development of the RWA track is inseparable from changes in the global mobility environment. In 2022-2023, the Federal Reserve will implement a sharp interest rate hike, resulting in a serious tightening of liquidity in global markets. However, since 2024, as inflationary pressures have eased, the Federal Reserve has entered the end of interest rate hikes, and may even start a cycle of interest rate cuts. Market liquidity expectations have changed, which has greatly promoted the RWA track.
First, the adjustment of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy has increased the market demand for stable income assets. The DeFi Ecosystem has experienced a period of high volatility and high risk in 2021-2022, but current investors prefer low-risk, predictable income products, and RWA Track provides this solution. For example, bond tokenization and private market tokenization allow investors to enjoy a more stable and compliant income model in the DeFi ecosystem, which is also one of the important reasons for the outbreak of RWA in 2024. Secondly, from the perspective of the crypto market, BTC will welcome the passage of spot ETFs in 2024, and institutional capital will continue to flow in, expanding the pool of funds in the entire crypto market. In addition to BTC, these funds also need to find more stable investment targets. Due to their deep binding with traditional financial markets, RWA assets have become an important allocation direction for institutional funds. For example, asset management giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity have begun to focus on the RWA field and launch related investment products, which will further promote the growth of the RWA track. In addition, as DeFi’s interest rates fall, the yield advantage of RWA tracks becomes increasingly obvious. The yield of the DeFi ecosystem in 2021-2022 is generally as high as more than 10%, but the stablecoin yields of most DeFi agreements have dropped to between 2% and 4% in 2024, while the yield of U.S. bonds on RWA tracks remains above 5%, which makes RWA assets a new pillar of DeFi revenue, attracting a large amount of capital inflows.
2.3 Policy and regulatory trends: RWA track compliance process
In the development of the encryption industry, regulatory issues have always been the focus of market attention, and the rise of the RWA track is precisely because it is more compliant than other DeFi tracks and can meet the needs of institutional investors. Regulators in various countries are gradually accepting the innovative model of asset tokenization and exploring how to support the development of the RWA ecosystem through legal frameworks.
First, the U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) have conducted research on areas such as securities tokenization and bond tokenization, and allow some institutions to issue tokenized assets under a compliance framework. For example, Securitize has been recognized by the SEC to issue blockchain-based securities tokens, which provides a good example of compliance at the RWA track. Secondly, Europe, Japan, Singapore and other places are relatively open to the RWA track. For example, Switzerland’s SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and Germany’s Boerse Stuttgart Digital Exchange (BSDEX) have both supported tokenized stock trading, while the Singapore government is also actively promoting the on-chain development of RWA assets. These favorable policies make institutional investors more willing to enter the RWA track, providing a solid foundation for its development.
2.4 Institutional admission and improvement of DeFi ecosystem maturity
In addition to macroeconomics and policy supervision, the admission of institutions and the maturity of the DeFi ecosystem are also important drivers of the growth of the RWA track. Traditional institutions have begun to pay attention to the integration of DeFi and TradFi (traditional finance), and many leading asset management companies, banks, and hedge funds have begun to study how to issue and trade RWA assets on the blockchain. At the same time, the DeFi ecosystem has gradually shifted from “high volatility, high risk” to “stable income, compliance development”, and the RWA track has just become the core beneficiary of this trend. More and more DeFi protocols (such as MakerDAO, Aave, Maple Finance) are being deeply integrated with RWA assets, making the growth of RWA tracks more sustainable.
To sum up, the explosion of the RWA track is not only the result of market demand, but also the product of the combined effect of global macroeconomics, policy supervision, liquidity environment and DeFi ecological evolution. Driven by these catalytic factors, the RWA track is expected to become one of the most important engines of growth for the crypto market in 2024-2025.
3. Analysis of the main classifications and core events of the RWA track
Against the background of the continuous maturity of the encryption market and the accelerated influx of institutional funds, the rise of RWA tracks has become a major trend. The core goal of RWA Track is to issue, trade and manage assets in traditional financial markets, such as bonds, real estate, commodities, private equity, etc., in a blockchain tokenization method, making them more liquid and easier to obtain and integrate with the DeFi ecosystem. This not only brings the convenience of decentralized finance to traditional assets, but also provides a more stable source of revenue for the DeFi ecosystem. The RWA track has rich application scenarios, and different types of real-world assets have different forms of expression on the chain. They can usually be divided into the following categories: bond RWA, commodity and bulk asset RWA, real estate RWA, equity and private equity market RWA, infrastructure and supply chain RWA. In this section, we will explore in detail the core logic of these categories and analyze representative projects currently on the market to gain a deeper understanding of the layout of the RWA track.
3.1 Bond RWA: Chain integration of US bonds, treasury bonds, and corporate bonds
The bond market is one of the most important asset classes in the global financial market, especially U.S. Treasury bonds (UST), which are regarded as one of the safest assets in the world and are widely used for hedging and reserve assets. As the DeFi ecosystem matures, more and more institutions are trying to introduce bond assets into the blockchain to achieve transparency of earnings, improved liquidity, and the possibility of global transactions.
At present, the size of the global debt market has exceeded US$300 trillion, of which U.S. debt accounts for a very high proportion, while the total market value of the crypto market is only US$2 -3 trillion. If the bond assets of RWA track can be successfully introduced into the DeFi ecosystem, it will It will greatly change the market landscape. The liquidity of the traditional bond market is limited by factors such as trading time, market access threshold, and settlement cycle, while on-chain bonds can provide advantages such as 7*24-hour trading, borderless access, and second-level settlement, making them an important supplement to the DeFi ecosystem.
Representative project analysis: Currently on the RWA track, the main players in the bond tokenization field include Ondo Finance, Maple Finance, Backed Finance, etc.
Ondo Finance: Currently one of the most active bond tokenization projects, focusing on the tokenization of U.S. bonds and providing OUSG (Ondo Short-Term U.S. Government Bond Fund), which allows DeFi users to obtain benefits similar to short-term U.S. bond ETFs on the chain, with an annualized return of more than 5%. Ondo’s tokenized bonds are held by compliance agencies, comply with U.S. securities law requirements, and are freely traded on the chain.
Maple Finance: Initially focused on the DeFi loan market, then expanded to the RWA track to provide on-chain debt financing services. Maple allows institutional investors to issue bonds in the DeFi ecosystem, providing a stable source of income for the crypto market.
Backed Finance: Launched a variety of bond ETF tokenized products, such as $bIB01 (corresponding to iShares Short-Term U.S. Bond ETF), which provides investors with on-chain versions of mainstream bond ETFs in traditional financial markets, lowering trading thresholds and improving accessibility.
The rise of bond RWA tracks not only meets the needs of traditional institutions, but also brings new sources of revenue to the DeFi ecosystem, further promoting the growth of RWA assets.
3.2 RWA for Commodities and Bulk Assets: The On-Chain Integration of Gold, Crude Oil and Other Commodities
The commodity market is another important RWA track, especially gold, which became one of the first assets to be tokenized on the blockchain due to its long-term role as a store of value. Tokenization of goods allows investors to trade more easily and can directly integrate with the DeFi ecosystem to improve asset liquidity.
Gold has long been an inflation hedging tool. As global economic uncertainty increases, market demand for gold continues to rise. However, the traditional gold market has high transaction costs and complex delivery processes, while tokenized gold assets (such as PAXG and XAUT) can provide functions such as seamless cross-border transactions, smart contract management and DeFi pledge, making them an important asset class in the crypto market.
Representative project analysis:
PAXG (Paxos Gold): A gold token issued by Paxos. Each PAXG represents 1 ounce of physical gold in the London Gold Warehouse and can be exchanged for physical gold at any time. PAXG is currently the gold token with the highest transaction volume on the chain and is widely used for DeFi pledges and transactions.
XAUT (Tether Gold): Gold tokens issued by Tether are also linked to physical gold, allowing users to conduct seamless transactions around the world and participate in the DeFi ecosystem.
Commodities DAO: Explore the possibility of more commodities (such as oil, copper, soybeans, etc.) entering the chain so that commodity markets can operate more transparently and efficiently.
The tokenization of gold and other commodities is changing the way commodity markets are traded, making them more open and bringing stronger inflation-resistant asset classes to the crypto market.
3.3 Real Estate RWA: A Breakthrough in Asset Liquidity
The real estate market is one of the largest real estate markets in the world. However, due to issues such as high transaction costs and low liquidity, it is difficult for the traditional real estate market to integrate with the DeFi ecosystem. The real estate tokenization at the RWA track allows global investors to participate in the real estate market through blockchain, breaking down geographical and financial barriers.
Representative project analysis:
RealT: Tokenize U.S. real estate assets. Each token represents partial ownership of the real estate asset. Investors can earn rental income by holding the token.
LABS Group: Focusing on the Asian real estate tokenization market, allowing individual investors to participate in high-end real estate investments with extremely low barriers.
The development of the real estate RWA track has greatly increased the liquidity of the real estate market. It has also provided DeFi with new pledged assets and promoted the growth of the entire ecosystem.
3.4 Private Equity and Fund RWA: Making VC investment more transparent
Traditional VC investment and private equity markets have long had problems with high barriers and low transparency, and the tokenization of RWA tracks has made these assets more liquid. For example, well-known asset management company Hamilton Lane issues tokenized funds through blockchain, allowing investors to participate in the private equity market at a lower threshold.
In addition, compliant tokenization platforms such as Securitize are helping more traditional institutions to link equity assets, allowing them to trade in the secondary market, improving liquidity.
4. Challenges and potential breakthroughs of the RWA track
In the past few years, the RWA track has gradually attracted the attention of many blockchain industries. RWA aims to digitize real-world assets, such as real estate, bonds, stocks, commodities, etc., into the blockchain ecosystem, so that they can be traded, pledged, borrowed, etc. on a decentralized financial (DeFi) platform. This track has huge potential, but it also faces many challenges. How to overcome these challenges will be the key to determining its sustainable development.
First, one of the most significant challenges is legal compliance. Traditional assets are usually subject to the legal and regulatory frameworks of various countries, but digitization and introduction of these assets into the blockchain environment may face review by regulatory agencies and policy adaptability issues. The current financial regulatory policies of many countries do not clearly stipulate cryptographic assets and blockchain technology, especially when it comes to cross-border asset transfers, legal uncertainty increases the risks of enterprises. For example, how to legally transfer traditional assets such as real estate or bonds to blockchain on a global scale and ensure compliance in different jurisdictions requires not only in-depth participation of legal experts, but may also require relevant countries to carry out legal framework revision. In addition, the management and transfer of ownership of digital assets can also pose complex regulatory challenges involving how to verify the actual existence of assets and the legitimacy of their owners.
In addition, technical challenges cannot be ignored. Although blockchain technology has obvious advantages in terms of non-tampering and decentralization of data, how to effectively transform real-world assets into digital form remains a complex issue. This not only involves how to tokenize physical assets (that is, convert them into digital tokens), but also ensuring that these tokens accurately reflect the value and liquidity of the assets. At present, the digitization process of assets often needs to rely on traditional third-party intermediaries, such as banks or legal institutions, for evaluation and endorsement, which brings about conflicts between the concept of decentralization and traditional centralized institutions. In addition, asset custody and management issues are also a major technical problem. While blockchain can provide transparency and automation, how to ensure the security and compliance of assets, especially in the absence of centralized intermediaries, is an issue that must be addressed. Blockchain smart contracts can greatly simplify the asset transaction process, but once a loophole or error occurs, it may lead to huge asset losses. Therefore, the security and auditing of smart contracts are very important.
For innovators at the RWA track, how to effectively combine the advantages of blockchain with real-world needs is the key. Especially on the issue of asset liquidity, the decentralized nature of blockchain can make assets more mobile, but real-world assets often face the problem of insufficient liquidity. For example, high-value assets such as real estate have a long trading cycle and limited market participants. How to use blockchain to break the liquidity bottleneck of traditional assets, allow these assets to flow globally, and become liquid assets on the DeFi platform is one of the potential breakthrough points for the RWA track. By introducing tokenization of assets, a real estate project, bonds and other assets can be cut into multiple small shares, thereby lowering the transaction threshold, attracting more investors to participate, and making assets more liquid. In addition, the tokenization of assets can also improve market transparency. Investors can track the flow of assets through the public records of the blockchain, reducing the problem of market information asymmetry.
In addition to legal and technical challenges, market acceptance is also an important obstacle facing RWA tracks. Although blockchain has made significant achievements in the fields of cryptocurrency and DeFi, blockchain and digital assets are still relatively unfamiliar concepts for traditional investors. Especially for investors who are accustomed to traditional financial systems and asset classes, digital assets may not immediately gain their trust. To break this barrier, RWA Raceway needs to establish closer partnerships with traditional financial institutions. One potential breakthrough point is that as more and more traditional financial institutions begin to embrace blockchain technology and explore partnerships with crypto assets, RWA Track also has an opportunity to gain support from the resources and credibility of these institutions. For example, banks and asset management companies can help drive RWA’s market acceptance by providing endorsements for digital assets or working with blockchain platforms.
In addition, potential breakthroughs for the RWA track include multi-chain interoperability and mobility innovation. Currently, many RWA projects rely on Ethereum or other mainstream public chains, but interoperability between different public chains still poses major challenges. If RWA can achieve multi-chain interoperability, cross-chain asset transfers will become smoother and the value flow of assets will be greatly improved. To achieve this, cross-chain protocols and bridging technology will become important breakthroughs in the RWA track. This will not only improve asset liquidity, but also expand RWA’s market share and attract more investors and users.
5. RWA’s future outlook and investment strategy
With the continuous maturity and development of blockchain technology, the RWA track is undergoing a subtle change. The integration of traditional assets and the crypto world will not only complement digital assets, but will also likely reshape the global financial system. Future RWA will bring huge market opportunities, but it will also be accompanied by complex challenges. In order to succeed in this field, investors need to have a deep understanding of the development trends of the industry and design reasonable investment strategies.
RWA’s future outlook is full of potential, especially as the bridge between blockchain technology and traditional financial systems becomes increasingly obvious. As blockchain technology is gradually accepted by financial institutions, tokenization of traditional assets will become more and more common. Asset tokenization is expected to become mainstream in the next few years, especially in areas such as real estate, bonds, equity and commodities. Traditional financial markets are becoming increasingly open to digital assets, and this trend will also accelerate the growth of RWA. Institutions such as banks, insurance companies, and asset management companies are exploring how to use blockchain technology to automate and transparent asset management while reducing operating costs and improving efficiency. Especially in those capital-intensive industries, RWA’s market potential will become more significant. Digitalized assets can transcend geographical restrictions and provide unprecedented investment opportunities for global investors.
RWA’s future outlook is closely related to the digitalization process of the entire financial system. As financial markets increasingly transform towards digitalization and automation, RWA will gradually become an important part of the global capital market. With the advancement of technology and the maturity of the market, there may be more opportunities for industry integration and mergers and acquisitions in the future on the RWA track. Some leading RWA platforms and projects may become “unicorns” in the blockchain industry. In this process, investors can not only receive direct return on assets, but may also participate in the “dividends” of blockchain financial innovation. Therefore, there will be more and more investment opportunities at the RWA track. Investors need to grasp market dynamics in a timely manner and flexibly adjust investment strategies in order to obtain the greatest return in this innovative market.
