While you are still pondering the next chapter for cryptocurrencies, a "key" that connects real-world assets with the digital world is quietly emerging.

Based on the views of comprehensive institutions, real-world assets (RWA) are being transformed into on-chain digital tokens through blockchain technology, combining traditional financial assets with physical assets such as US Treasury bonds, real estate, and green energy. A vast market, projected to reach $16 trillion by 2030, is emerging.

For investors, this signifies the advent of a brand-new era of asset allocation. Analysts believe that RWA not only fragmentizes previously illiquid assets (such as private equity and infrastructure), significantly lowering the investment threshold, but also provides on-chain investors with new assets linked to the real economy and offering more stable returns.

What is RWA?

RWA, which stands for "Real-World Assets," refers to the process of "tokenizing" real-world assets (such as real estate, accounts receivable, carbon credits, and power plant revenue rights) through blockchain technology, endowing them with the capabilities of trading, splitting, and circulating as digital assets.

In brief, RWA transforms traditional assets that are "unable to be moved, not quickly tradable, and unaffordable to invest in" into assets that, like cryptocurrencies, can be purchased in small amounts, traded swiftly, and circulated across borders.

According to Huaxi Securities and Caitong Securities, RWA holds a dual significance for market participants:

For asset owners: RWA provides an innovative financing channel, featuring fast financing, low cost, and strong liquidity. It enables the segmentation of large, low-liquidity assets (such as real estate and infrastructure) into small portions for financing from global investors.

For investors: RWA greatly enriches on-chain investment targets. Compared to volatile native crypto assets, RWA is anchored to real assets, providing a more stable source of income. At the same time, its "fragmented" nature allows ordinary investors to participate in the investment of high-value assets with an extremely low threshold (such as investing $50 in US real estate), truly realizing a new inclusive finance ecosystem that shifts from "elite investment" to "investment for all".

The trillion-yuan industry is ready to take off

Institutions generally believe that the global RWA market is on the eve of an explosion.

According to data from RWA.xyz cited by Caitong Securities, as of June 2025, the total global RWA assets, excluding stablecoins, have reached $25.5 billion.

Currently, the market is dominated by private credit (58.5%), US Treasury bonds (29.6%), and commodities (6.4%). The US dollar Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) issued by BlackRock is the world's largest single RWA project, with a market value exceeding $2.8 billion.

RWA projects are primarily issued on public chains such as Ethereum (with a market share of 58.2%), ZKsync, and Aptos.

The report cites a joint forecast by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and ADDX, stating that by 2030, the global asset tokenization market will reach a value of $16.1 trillion, accounting for 10% of global GDP.

From the inception of the concept to the point where everything can be chained

RWA did not emerge out of thin air. Instead, it has progressed step by step to where it is today, driven by the evolution of blockchain technology, the maturity of the DeFi ecosystem, financial institutions' experimentation, and the implementation of policy regulation. Nowadays, its reach is rapidly expanding from financial assets to the vast realms of the physical world, including real estate, energy, cultural tourism, and even AI computing power.

1. Concept exploration period (2016–2018): Technical prototype and thought experiment

In 2016, Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, proposed a thought experiment involving on-chain exchanges and asset tokenization.

Since 2017, platforms such as Polymath and Harbor have explored the on-chain issuance of securities, marking the beginning of RWA.

In 2018, Uniswap utilized the AMM model to address the challenge of on-chain liquidity, laying the foundation for on-chain asset transactions like RWA.

2. Infrastructure construction period (2019–2021): Attempts to platformize and integrate with DeFi

In 2019, Securitize, OpenFinance, and other companies provided RWA token issuance and compliance services; the TAC Alliance promoted the unification of token standards.

Platforms such as Centrifuge have begun to tokenize real-world assets such as accounts receivable and collaborate with DeFi platforms like MakerDAO to enable on-chain lending scenarios.

Stablecoins are gradually emerging as the transaction foundation and value anchor of the RWA ecosystem.

3. The entry period for financial institutions (2022-2023): Traditional capital integrates with the Web3 world

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and other firms have begun RWA pilots to promote the on-chain listing of bonds and private equity assets.

BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have launched tokenized funds, bringing RWA from DeFi into the mainstream's attention.

Platforms such as Securitize and Ondo Finance have emerged as core intermediary infrastructure for RWA on-chain assets.

Stablecoin has become one of the largest application scenarios of RWA, serving as the "pioneer" in the digitization of real assets.

4. Application expansion period (2024-present): moving from financial assets to the real economy

In the field of financial assets: covering bonds, funds and stocks, precious metals and commodities. Ondo launched the tokenized US Treasury bond fund OUSG, with TVL ranking among the top global RWA platforms; Jarsy fragmented and tokenized the equity of unicorns such as SpaceX, breaking the investment threshold for Pre-IPO;

Real Estate: RealT tokenizes residential properties in the United States, with investments starting at just $50, truly enabling the "disassembly and sale" of real estate. The Dubai government has launched an official RWA platform, with plans to list $16 billion in real estate assets on the blockchain by 2033.

Emerging directions: Non-standard fields such as AI computing power, carbon assets, agriculture, and cultural tourism assets are exploring the RWA path, with great potential in the future.

It is worth noting that stablecoins themselves are the most successful use case of RWA (tokenization of fiat currencies), and at the same time, they serve as the core transaction medium in the RWA ecosystem, providing pricing and settlement tools for the on-chain circulation of various assets.

China: Hong Kong's policies are the first to be implemented, with green assets taking the lead

In China, the development of RWA is characterized by a dual-driven approach, with policy and industrial applications advancing hand in hand. Especially under the leadership of Hong Kong, green assets and computing power have emerged as prominent highlights.

Hong Kong, China, stands as a policy hub for the development of RWA globally. Huaxi Securities points out that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has provided a compliant exploration space for RWA projects through its "Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox" mechanism. In 2025, Hong Kong officially published the "Stablecoin Regulation" and released the "Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0", explicitly positioning RWA and stablecoin as core development directions and providing the market with a clear regulatory framework and development path.

Based on research reports from institutions such as Huaxi Securities, Soochow Securities, and Caitong Securities, green energy assets are the pioneering field for the implementation of RWA in mainland China, with Ant Digital Tech serving as the core technology service provider.

Charging Pile: In 2024, LongShine Group, in collaboration with Ant Digital Technology, completed the first RMB 100 million RWA financing in China with 9,000 charging piles as the underlying assets in Hong Kong, China.

Photovoltaic: GCL-Nengke has secured 82MW of distributed photovoltaic power stations in two provinces, completing the world's first RWA of photovoltaic green assets, with a financing amount exceeding 200 million yuan.

Battery swapping station: Xunying Group completed the world's first battery swapping asset RWA, raising tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

Computing Power and Emerging Assets: Both Soochow Securities and Huaxi Securities emphasize the immense potential of Computing Power RWA (Risk-Weighted Assets). With the advancement of the "east data, west computing" project and the promotion of data center REITs, computing power assets have, for the first time, established a standardized foundation for being listed on the blockchain. The computing power leasing market is expected to grow from $14.6 billion in 2024 to $63.6 billion in 2031. Projects like BEVM, in collaboration with computing power giants like Bitmain, have launched a tens of millions of dollars ecological support plan to promote the development of the Computing Power RWA ecosystem.

Core challenges and pain points: regulation, technology, and market risks.....

Despite the promising prospects, the reports from Guosheng Securities and Huaxi Securities also point out several major obstacles that RWA must overcome on its way to becoming mainstream:

Complexity of regulation and compliance: The tokenized securities attributes of RWA assets expose them to strict securities law regulation. The US SEC commissioner has explicitly warned that tokenized securities are still securities, and their on-chain trading (over-the-counter trading) and offshore issues urgently need to be addressed. Conflicts in cross-border regulatory rules also pose challenges to global circulation.

On-chain and off-chain consistency: The core challenge lies in ensuring that on-chain tokens accurately reflect the status of off-chain assets. This necessitates the utilization of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI to guarantee the authenticity and credibility of off-chain data, thereby addressing the "last mile" issues in trade, logistics, and other related aspects.

Improvement of image technology and infrastructure: The RWA ecosystem requires new infrastructure, including a decentralized identity (DID) system to meet compliance requirements, as well as new token standards such as ERC-3643 that can embed regulatory rules.

Market risk: Currently, the liquidity of the secondary market for RWA is generally insufficient, and the pricing mechanism for non-standard assets (such as artworks) is not yet mature. In addition, the custody of off-chain assets relies on centralized institutions, posing counterparty risk