Author: Aquarius Capital, Klein Labs

Introduction

Since 2024, Real-World Assets (RWA) have re-emerged as one of the core narratives in the crypto market. From stablecoins to U.S. Treasuries, and even experimental stocks and non-standard assets, the on-chain process of real-world assets is transitioning from a validation phase to an expansion phase. The driving forces behind this shift are not only technological maturity but also a clearer global regulatory environment and the traditional finance sector's active embrace of blockchain infrastructure. This wave of RWA enthusiasm is not coincidental; it is the result of multiple converging variables:

• Macro background: Global interest rates remain high, and institutional capital is reassessing on-chain yield instruments;

• Policy evolution: Major regulators in the U.S. and Europe are gradually establishing frameworks for "regulated tokenized assets," expanding the compliance space for project teams.

• Technological evolution: On-chain settlement, KYC modules, institutional wallets, and permission management infrastructures are becoming increasingly mature;

• DeFi integration: RWA is no longer just a "packaging" of off-chain assets but is now an integral part of the on-chain financial system, possessing liquidity, composability, and programmability.

Data shows that by August 2025, the total scale of global RWA on-chain assets (excluding stablecoins) has reached over $25 billion, with stablecoins exceeding $250 billion in market capitalization. RWA is seen as a core interface driving the integration of Web3 and Web2 finance and is a key track for on-chain finance's mainstream adoption.

1. Tokenization of Real Assets: Motivations and Implementation Pathways

1.1 Why RWA? Why should real assets go "on-chain"?

The traditional financial system relies on centralized registration institutions and multiple layers of intermediaries, which inherently creates structural inefficiencies that become bottlenecks for asset circulation and financial inclusivity:

• Limited liquidity: Real assets like real estate, private equity, and long-term bonds generally face high trading thresholds (e.g., million-dollar minimum investments), long holding periods (years or even decades), and limited circulation channels, resulting in a significant amount of capital being "locked" and difficult to allocate efficiently.

• Complicated settlement and custody processes: Asset issuance, trading, and clearing depend on multiple intermediaries such as brokers, clearinghouses, and custodial banks, leading to complex and time-consuming processes (e.g., cross-border bond settlements take 3-5 days), which not only increase transaction costs but also heighten operational risks and delays.

• Insufficient data transparency: Asset valuation relies on fragmented offline data (e.g., property appraisal reports, corporate financial statements), and transaction records are scattered across different institutional systems, making real-time synchronization and cross-verification difficult, resulting in delayed pricing and inefficient portfolio management.

• High participation thresholds: Quality assets (e.g., private equity, high-end art) are often only accessible to institutions or high-net-worth individuals, while ordinary investors are excluded due to capital and compliance restrictions, exacerbating inequality in financial markets.

Blockchain, as a decentralized distributed ledger system, reconstructs asset records and transaction logic through "disintermediation," addressing the pain points of traditional finance at a technical level. Its core advantages and the value of tokenizing real assets are as follows:

Underlying Support of Blockchain Technology

• Decentralized resilience: Asset ownership records are maintained collectively by network nodes, eliminating reliance on a single centralized institution, reducing risks of data tampering and system failures, and enhancing the overall system's fault tolerance.

• Immutability and traceability: Once confirmed, on-chain transactions are permanently recorded and can be traced back through timestamps, providing an immutable "digital certificate" for asset ownership transfers, thereby reducing fraud and disputes.

Specific Value Brought by Tokenization

• Liquidity innovation: By enabling "fractional ownership," high-value assets can be divided into smaller tokens (e.g., a $10 million property split into 1,000 tokens of $10,000 each), combined with a 24/7 decentralized market and automated market makers (AMMs), significantly lowering investment thresholds and enhancing trading flexibility.

• Process automation and disintermediation: Smart contracts automatically execute asset issuance, dividend distribution, and maturity redemption processes, replacing manual operations by traditional intermediaries; oracles connect to offline data (e.g., property valuations, corporate revenues), supporting automated triggers for complex scenarios like insurance claims, significantly reducing operational costs.

• Compliance and audit upgrades: Built-in KYC/AML rules on-chain can automatically verify investor qualifications; all transaction data is recorded in real-time on-chain, facilitating efficient verification by regulatory bodies and auditors, estimated to reduce compliance costs by 30%-50%.

• Atomic settlement and risk elimination: Smart contracts enable "synchronized delivery of assets and funds," completely eliminating counterparty risks associated with traditional transactions where "money and goods do not match," reducing settlement times from T+3 to seconds.

• Global circulation and DeFi synergy: Tokenized assets break geographical limitations and can circulate seamlessly within the global blockchain network; simultaneously, they can be used as collateral in lending, liquidity mining, and other DeFi protocols, achieving "one asset, multiple uses," thereby releasing higher capital efficiency.

• Overall, RWA represents a Pareto improvement for the traditional financial industry, optimizing efficiency based on technological innovations.

Successful Path Validation: The Experience of Stablecoins

As a "gateway" for real assets to go on-chain, stablecoins have fully validated the feasibility of blockchain technology in connecting off-chain value with on-chain ecosystems:

• Model prototype: Stablecoins like USDT and USDC achieve a 1:1 peg to off-chain U.S. dollar reserves, realizing the standardized mapping of fiat assets to blockchain tokens for the first time, becoming the initial practice of "real assets going on-chain."

• Market validation: By August 2025, the market capitalization of stablecoins has exceeded $256.8 billion, dominating the RWA market and proving the scalability potential of on-chain asset tokenization.

• Insight value: The successful operation of stablecoins validates the safety, transparency, and efficiency of the "off-chain assets - on-chain tokens" mapping, providing technical standards and compliance templates for more complex RWA (e.g., real estate, bonds) tokenization.

Through blockchain technology, real assets can break free from the limitations of traditional finance, achieving a paradigm shift from "static holding" to "dynamic circulation" and from "exclusive to a few" to "accessible to all."

1.2 How to RWA? Implementation Pathways and Operational Structure of RWA

The essence of RWA is to convert valuable assets from the real world into programmable digital certificates on-chain through blockchain technology, achieving a closed loop of "off-chain value - on-chain liquidity." Its core operational pathways can be divided into four key stages:

a) Identification and custody of off-chain assets:

• Identification and investigation of off-chain assets: Verification of the legality, ownership, and value of assets must be conducted through third-party institutions (law firms, accounting firms, appraisal agencies). For example, real estate requires verification of property certificates, rental income rights need confirmation of lease contracts, and gold must be stored in LBMA-certified vaults and audited regularly. For accounts receivable, the core enterprise must confirm the authenticity of the debt and provide blockchain evidence.

• Classification and practice of custody models:

Centralized custody

Advantages: Strong compliance, suitable for financial assets (e.g., government bonds, corporate bonds). For instance, MakerDAO's bonds are held by banks, with on-chain contracts recording collateral status and updating data quarterly.

Risks: There is a possibility of asset misappropriation by the custodian. In 2024, a real estate project in Singapore became a "lost asset" due to the failure to synchronize property rights changes on-chain, highlighting the information lag issue of centralized custody.

Decentralized custody

Technical implementation: Automatic execution of income distribution through DAO governance and smart contracts. For example, the DeFi protocol Goldfinch puts loan assets on-chain, with smart contracts managing repayments and default handling.

Challenges: Lack of legal support, and code vulnerabilities may lead to asset loss. Some projects attempt to combine zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to verify ownership consistency, but large-scale implementation is still lacking.

Hybrid custody

Balanced approach: Off-chain assets are held by trusted third parties, while on-chain data is verified by nodes. For example, in the Huamin Data RWA Alliance chain's node system, institutional nodes (banks, trust companies) are responsible for asset custody, regulatory nodes (30% share) set compliance standards, and industry nodes (e.g., ports) provide logistics data.

Case: The carbon credit tokenization project Toucan Protocol is managed by an environmental organization, with on-chain records of transactions and destruction information to ensure transparency.

b) Legal structure establishment:

Through SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles), trust agreements, and other legal structures, on-chain token holders are granted legal ownership or income rights, while establishing an executable legal bridge with the off-chain judicial system to ensure "token = equity certificate."

Legal structure design varies significantly across different regions due to regulatory framework differences:

• United States: Focused on "SPV isolation + securities compliance." A common structure is to register an LLC (Limited Liability Company) in Delaware as an SPV, which holds the underlying assets (e.g., U.S. Treasuries, equity), allowing token holders to indirectly enjoy asset rights through holding LLC equity shares. Additionally, the SEC regulatory framework must be adapted based on asset types—if tokens represent bonds or equity, they must comply with Reg D (for accredited investors) or Reg S (for non-U.S. investors) registration exemptions; if income rights are split, the "tokenized note" structure must clarify the creditor-debtor relationship to avoid being classified as "unregistered securities."

• Europe: Based on the MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) framework, relying on "trusts or EU-recognized SPVs." For example, registering a SICAV (Société d'Investissement à Capital Variable) in Luxembourg as an SPV to hold assets and issue "Asset-Referenced Tokens (ART)," with the token's linkage to the underlying assets constrained by both smart contract terms and legal agreements. MiCA explicitly requires token issuers to disclose asset custody details and rights distribution rules, and to undergo regular audits by EU regulatory bodies, ensuring the legal binding of on-chain tokens and off-chain rights can be enforced across the EU.

c) Token issuance:

Minting the aforementioned off-chain assets into tokens (usually ERC-20), serving as vehicles for on-chain circulation and composition.

• 1:1 full mapping: Each token corresponds to the complete rights of an equivalent underlying asset. For example, in Paxos Gold (PAXG), 1 token corresponds to 1 ounce of physical gold, which can be redeemed for the same amount of gold at any time, with the token's value fully synchronized with the gold price; U.S. Treasury tokens like $OUSG correspond 1:1 to short-term U.S. Treasury ETF shares, encompassing complete rights to principal and interest.

• Partial rights mapping: Tokens only represent specific rights to the underlying asset (e.g., income streams, dividend rights), without full ownership. For instance, in real estate tokenization, a project may issue "rental income tokens," where holders receive a proportional share of property rental income without owning the property or having disposal rights; in corporate bond tokenization, "interest tokens" may be issued, corresponding only to the interest income of the bond, with the principal retained by the original holder. This model is suitable for fractionalizing high-value assets, lowering investment thresholds.

d) On-chain integration and circulation:

Tokens enter the DeFi ecosystem and can be used for collateralized lending, market making, re-staking, structured asset design, etc., supported by permission management and on-chain KYC systems for compliant user participation. The on-chain KYC system is a core tool for achieving compliant circulation, operating on the logic of "identity verification on-chain + dynamic permission control":

◦ Core functions: By integrating with smart contracts and third-party identity verification service providers (e.g., Civic, KYC-Chain), users must submit identity information (passport, proof of address, proof of assets, etc.), and upon successful verification, a "on-chain KYC certificate" (not the identity data itself, but a hash of the verification result) is generated.

◦ Permission control: Smart contracts restrict trading permissions based on KYC certificates—e.g., only allowing "accredited investors" (assets over $1 million) to participate in private credit token trading; for U.S. Treasury tokens, non-U.S. investors (Reg S framework) are restricted to redeeming only during specific time windows.

◦ Privacy protection: Using zero-knowledge proof (ZK-proof) technology, users can prove "compliance" to smart contracts without disclosing specific identity information. For example, a user's KYC certificate may only indicate "passed EU anti-money laundering verification" without revealing their name or address.

Through the closed-loop design of these four stages, RWA achieves the transformation from "real assets" to "on-chain programmable assets," retaining the value foundation of traditional assets while endowing them with the efficient circulation and composability characteristics of blockchain.

2. Classification: Mainstream Asset Categories of RWA and the Rise of U.S. Treasury Narratives

Off-chain assets (Real World Assets, RWA) are migrating to the blockchain world at an unprecedented pace, extending their coverage from the core categories of traditional finance to broader sectors of the real economy. From standardized financial instruments like government bonds, corporate bonds, and stocks to physical assets like real estate, gold, and crude oil, and even non-standard rights like private equity, intellectual property, and supply chain receivables, nearly all real assets that can generate value or possess ownership characteristics are being explored for tokenization on the blockchain network.

2.1 Seven Mainstream Asset Classifications of RWA

Currently, in the RWA (Real World Assets on-chain) ecosystem, mainstream assets have formed seven major categories: stablecoins, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, tokenized global bonds, tokenized private credit, tokenized commodities, institutional alternative funds, and tokenized stocks. As of August 2025, the scale of on-chain RWA assets has reached $25.22 billion, with stablecoins and U.S. Treasuries firmly occupying the leading positions, where the stablecoin market size has reached $256.82 billion, and tokenized government bonds amount to $6.80 billion. (Data source: RWA.xyz | Analytics on Tokenized Real-World Assets)

2.1.1 Stablecoins

• Although stablecoins are not typical "off-chain assets," their core anchoring mechanisms are mostly based on off-chain fiat or bond reserves, thus occupying the largest share in the broad RWA category.

• Representative assets: USDT, USDC, FDUSD, PYUSD, EURC

• On-chain motivation: Payment composability, on-chain financial infrastructure, fiat settlement alternatives

• Extension directions: Accelerated exploration of local currency stablecoins like KRW and JPY to serve local crypto ecosystems and reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar; traditional banks piloting tokenization of deposits as on-chain currency to enhance transaction efficiency and scenario adaptability; multiple countries advancing CBDC simulation pilots (e.g., Hong Kong's "Digital Hong Kong Dollar") to accumulate technical and policy experience for formal issuance.

2.1.2 U.S. Treasuries

• U.S. Treasuries have become the most mainstream asset for tokenization, accounting for over 60% of market capitalization, introducing a low-risk yield curve to DeFi.

• Representative protocols: Ondo, Backed, OpenEden, Matrixdock, Swarm

• On-chain motivation:

• Demand side: In the context of declining crypto-native yields, introducing a stable, composable "risk-free interest rate benchmark."

• Technology push: Increasingly mature infrastructure for on-chain packaging, KYC whitelisting, and cross-chain bridges.

• Compliance structure: Achieving asset penetration and regulatory compatibility through SPVs, tokenized notes, BVI funds, etc.

• Typical product structure:

• $OUSG (Ondo): Tracks short-term U.S. Treasury ETFs, paying interest daily.

2.1.3 Global Bonds

• In addition to U.S. Treasuries, government and corporate bonds from Europe, Asia, and other regions are also beginning to be tokenized.

• Representative protocols: Backed, Obligate, Swarm

• On-chain motivation: Expanding geographical and currency coverage; serving non-U.S. dollar stablecoin issuance (e.g., EURC); forming a global interest rate curve.

• Challenges: Complex cross-border legal structures and inconsistent KYC standards.

2.1.4 Private Credit

• Connecting off-chain SME loans, microloans, real estate loans, and working capital financing with real yield assets.

• Representative protocols: Maple, Centrifuge, Goldfinch, Credix, Clearpool

• On-chain motivation: Creating real yield sources for on-chain capital; enhancing credit transparency and composability.

• Typical structure:

• SPV manages underlying assets, DeFi provides capital liquidity, and investors enjoy on-chain interest rates.

• Chainlink Proof of Reserve/Attestation enhances data credibility.

• Main contradictions: Transparency vs. privacy protection, yield vs. risk control quality.

2.1.5 Commodities

• Tokenization of physical assets like gold, carbon credits, and energy.

• Representative protocols: Tether Gold (XAUT), Pax Gold (PAXG), Toucan, KlimaDAO

• On-chain motivation: Providing commodity exposure for on-chain investors; physical custody + on-chain trading.

• Hot directions: Green finance, carbon markets, sustainable development scenarios.

2.1.6 Institutional Funds

• On-chain issuance of shares in closed-end funds like private equity, hedge funds, and ETFs.

• Representative protocols: Securitize, ADDX, RedSwan, InvestX

• On-chain motivation: Increasing share liquidity, lowering entry thresholds, and expanding the global base of qualified investors.

• Development limitations: High compliance barriers, limited to Reg D/Reg S investors.

2.1.7 Stocks

• Token/synthetic forms that benchmark off-chain stock assets.

• Representative protocols: Backed (xStock), Securitize, Robinhood, Synthetix

• On-chain motivation: Supporting on-chain trading strategies, cross-chain arbitrage, and fractional investing.

• Development stage: Mainly early attempts, with compliance pathways still under exploration.

Among various RWA assets, bond assets serve as a benchmark for adaptability. Bonds inherently possess a high degree of standardization, whether U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds, or personal bonds, relying on clear contractual structures and payment mechanisms to provide efficient pathways for large-scale on-chain integration. In contrast, the diverse forms of offline physical assets and complex ownership processes make the mapping of bonds on-chain more certain and smooth. Additionally, bond yields are relatively predictable, and the efficiency of on-chain capital interactions and off-chain yield realization significantly surpasses that of other asset classes, enabling the rapid construction of a "on-chain - off-chain" value closed loop that precisely aligns with the core demands for the digitization and efficiency of RWA assets.

2.2 U.S. Treasury RWA Lays the Foundation for Industry Development

The rapid emergence of U.S. Treasury RWA as a "traffic entrance" for on-chain assetization is not only due to its strong financial attributes but also because it taps into the current "gap" and "urgent need" in the crypto market on both the supply and demand sides. The following points are particularly critical:

Supply side: Structural safety and clear compliance pathways

• U.S. Treasuries inherently possess no default risk (theoretically) and are the most trusted foundational assets globally.

• The ETF and note markets already have a mature secondary market with high liquidity.

• Compared to equity and credit, the legal structure for tokenization of U.S. Treasury assets is more stable and clear (e.g., BVI fund + token wrapper).

Demand side: Alternatives after the depletion of crypto-native yields

• Since the liquidity peak in 2021, many DeFi yield models have collapsed, and the market has entered a "no-yield" period.

• Investors are beginning to turn their attention to on-chain composable real yield assets, with U.S. Treasury tokens being the most natural choice.

• The demand for "on-chain interest rate anchors" has risen, especially with the emergence of interest rate protocols like LayerZero, EigenLayer, and Pendle.

Technical side: Gradual maturity of standardized packaged asset structures

• Typical structures:

• Tokenized Note (e.g., Ondo, Backed): Linked to underlying ETFs, with daily interest settlements.

• Real-time redeemable Stablecoin (e.g., USDM): Redeemable at any time, with composability.

• Supporting tools like oracles, audits, Proof of Reserve, and token-ETF NAV tracking are being perfected.

Compliance side: Relatively easy to penetrate regulatory scrutiny

• Most U.S. Treasury protocols use Reg D/Reg S pathways, open only to accredited investors.

• Clear financing structures, with relatively controllable tax and regulatory risks.

• Suitable for institutional participation, promoting the intersection of TradFi and DeFi.

3. Progress and Market Landscape of RWA

Real-World Assets (RWA) are gradually transitioning from a narrative phase to a structural growth phase, with market participants, asset categories, technological architectures, and regulatory pathways all entering a substantive evolution period. This chapter will systematically outline the current progress status and landscape evolution of the on-chain RWA market, analyzing from four dimensions: asset development trends, participation ecology, regional regulation, and institutional adoption.

3.1 Market Progress and Key Trends

From the current development trend, RWA exhibits strong growth momentum. Globally, its market size continues to expand rapidly, with the total value of global on-chain RWA assets surpassing $23.3 billion in the first half of 2025, a nearly 380% increase from early 2024, making it the second-largest growth track in the crypto space. Numerous institutions are entering the market, such as Wall Street financial institutions accelerating their actions, Tether launching an RWA tokenization platform, Visa exploring asset tokenization, and BlackRock issuing tokenized funds, driving the market towards standardization and scalability. Different types of RWA assets are also continuously exploring forward in their respective tracks, with U.S. Treasury assets leading growth due to their stability and mature systems, private credit actively expanding the market and optimizing risk control driven by high yields, commodity tokenization gradually broadening its application scope, and equity tokenization striving to break through regulatory constraints.

U.S. Treasury Market (T-Bills): The Dominant Growth Engine Under Structural Interest Rates

• As of August 2025, the market capitalization of on-chain U.S. Treasury assets has exceeded $68 billion, with a year-on-year growth of over 200%. This track has become the largest sub-category of RWA after stablecoins.

• Mainstream platforms like Ondo, Superstate, Backed, and Franklin Templeton have achieved distributed mapping of U.S. Treasury ETFs/money market funds on-chain.

• For institutions, U.S. Treasury RWA provides the infrastructure for on-chain risk-free yields; for DeFi protocols, they become sources of yield for stablecoins and DA reserves, constructing an "on-chain central bank" model.

• U.S. Treasury products possess high maturity in compliance, clearing, and legal structures, making them the most scalable type of RWA currently.

Private Credit: High Yields and High Risks Coexist

• Protocols like Maple, Centrifuge, and Goldfinch are expanding around on-chain credit, exploring SME loans, income sharing, consumer finance, and other tracks.

• Characterized by high yields (8-18%), but with significant risk control challenges, relying on off-chain due diligence and asset custody. Some projects like TrueFi and Clearpool are also transitioning to serve institutions.

• Goldfinch and Centrifuge have expanded new credit pilot projects in Africa and Asia in 2024, enhancing financial inclusivity.

Commodity Tokenization: On-chain Mapping of Gold & Energy Assets

• Representative projects like Paxos Gold (PAXG), Tether Gold (XAUT), Meld, and 1GCX are mapping precious metal reserves through on-chain tokens.

• Gold is the preferred choice for mainstream commodity tokenization due to its clear reserve logic and stable value, often used as collateral for stablecoins.

• Energy commodities (e.g., carbon credits, oil spot) face higher regulatory hurdles and are still in the experimental phase.

Equity Tokenization: Early Breakthroughs but Still Limited by Regulation

• The current market capitalization of on-chain equity tokens is only about $362 million, accounting for 1.4%, primarily led by Exodus Movement (EXOD) (83% share).

• Representative platforms like Securitize, Plume, Backed, and Swarm are conducting compliant equity mapping around U.S. stocks, European listed companies, and startups.

• The biggest challenge for these assets is compliance in secondary market trading and KYC management, with some projects combining permissioned chains or restricted address whitelisting strategies to address this.

Looking ahead, RWA is expected to become a multi-trillion-dollar market. Citibank believes that almost any valuable asset can be tokenized, predicting that by 2030, the scale of tokenized private assets will reach $4 trillion. BlackRock forecasts that by 2030, the RWA tokenization market could reach $16 trillion (including private chain assets), accounting for 1% to 10% of global asset management scale. On the technical side, with the iteration of blockchain technology, such as further optimization of smart contracts and the development of cross-chain technology, the efficiency and security of asset tokenization will improve, and operational costs will decrease. Real-time asset data collection through IoT, AI-optimized valuation models, and enhanced privacy protection through zero-knowledge proof technology will all provide technical support for RWA development. Application scenarios will also continue to expand, with accelerated tokenization in emerging fields like carbon assets, data assets, and intellectual property. On the global policy front, if countries can further improve regulatory frameworks and form relatively unified standards, it will greatly promote the global circulation and development of RWA. RWA will become a core link connecting the traditional economy with Web3, profoundly changing the global asset allocation landscape.

3.2 Ecological Structure and Participant Landscape

3.2.1 Distribution of Participants in On-chain Protocol Layer

Trend observation: The Ethereum ecosystem remains the main battlefield for RWA assets, particularly suitable for high-compliance assets like funds and bonds; meanwhile, credit-related RWA is beginning to migrate to low-cost, high-throughput chains.

3.2.2 Comparison of Regional Policies and Regulatory Friendliness

Certain regions in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai) are leading in regulatory design and innovation promotion for RWA, gradually becoming centers for capital and project aggregation.

3.2.3 Analysis of Institutional Participation

Institutional participation in RWA is transitioning from "observational pilots" to "substantive deployments." According to market tracking, the current major institutional players include:

Institutional roles are gradually diversifying, expanding from "issuers" to "clearing service providers," "custody platforms," and "secondary trading facilitators," with RWA becoming a bridge connecting Web3 and TradFi.

4. Analysis of Typical Projects

The following section focuses on representative RWA projects in the U.S. Treasury, private credit, commodities, and equity sectors, breaking down their token models, investor structures, product mechanisms, and yield logic:

4.1 U.S. Treasury Sector: Ondo Finance

Ondo Finance is a platform focused on tokenizing traditional financial assets, particularly U.S. Treasury assets, aiming to introduce low-risk yield assets to the crypto market and provide investors with stable and composable yield sources. It builds a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) in a compliant manner, enabling U.S. Treasuries to be traded and utilized in tokenized form on-chain.

• Token Model: Issues ERC-20 tokens pegged to off-chain U.S. Treasury ETFs (e.g., $OUSG corresponding to short-term U.S. Treasury ETFs), with a 1:1 mapping of underlying asset value and daily automatic interest settlements.

• Investor Structure: Primarily institutional (family offices, asset management companies) and accredited investors, entering through Reg D/S compliance pathways, with some retail users participating indirectly through DeFi protocols.

• Product Mechanism: Establishes an "on-chain fund" structure, with an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) holding U.S. Treasury assets, and smart contracts managing subscriptions, redemptions, and interest distributions, supporting on-chain staking and lending (e.g., integrating with Aave, Compound).

• Yield Logic:

• Underlying asset yield: The basic yield source for tokens like $OUSG comes from the interest income of the underlying U.S. Treasury assets. U.S. Treasuries themselves have low risk and relatively stable interest income, which is distributed to token holders after deducting platform management fees (e.g., 0.15% - 0.3% management fee) according to certain rules.

• DeFi ecosystem yield: When tokens like $OUSG are used in the DeFi ecosystem, they can also generate additional yields. For example, using $OUSG as collateral to borrow other assets in lending protocols, then investing the borrowed assets in liquidity mining or other DeFi applications to earn yields; or participating in liquidity pools for related tokens to earn transaction fee income.

4.2 Private Credit Sector: Maple Finance

Maple Finance is a multi-chain DeFi platform focusing on institutional-level on-chain lending and RWA investment, operating on Ethereum, Solana, and Base public chains, with core service targets including hedge funds, DAOs, and crypto trading companies. By simplifying the complex processes of traditional finance, it offers low-collateral loans, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and trade receivables pools, with assets under management (AUM) exceeding $2.4 billion by June 2025, becoming a representative private credit platform under the trend of institutional entry.

• Token Model:

• Core token: SYRUP (ERC-20 standard), with a total supply of 118 million tokens, currently circulating around 111 million tokens, nearly fully circulated, reducing potential selling pressure.

• Core functions:

▪ Staking mechanism: SYRUP holders can stake tokens to become "risk bearers," prioritized for loss compensation in case of loan defaults, and share platform rewards (e.g., fee sharing) when there are no defaults.

▪ Value capture: The platform charges a 0.5%-2% fee for each loan, with 20% used to repurchase SYRUP and distribute to stakers, forming a value support for the token.

• Investor Structure: Institutional investors (hedge funds, crypto VCs) provide large amounts of capital, while DeFi treasuries (e.g., early participation by Alameda Research) supplement liquidity, with borrowers required to undergo off-chain due diligence (KYC, credit rating).

• Product Mechanism: Adopts a "decentralized credit pool" model, with smart contracts matching borrowing needs (e.g., SME working capital, crypto mining loans) with funding supply, automatically executing repayments and default liquidations (verified by Chainlink oracles for off-chain repayment data).

• Yield Logic:

• Basic yield: Lenders earn interest from providing liquidity, with yields linked to product risks (e.g., High Yield due to investments in high-risk assets yielding higher than Blue Chip).

• Platform sharing: Stakers earn a share of platform fees by staking SYRUP (20% of fees are used to repurchase SYRUP and distribute), while also bearing the responsibility for default risk compensation.

• Ecosystem synergy: Institutional borrowers quickly obtain liquidity at low costs, supporting their crypto trading, arbitrage, and other businesses, indirectly driving demand growth for platform lending, forming a closed loop of "borrowing - lending - yield distribution."

4.3 Commodities Sector: Paxos Gold ($PAXG)

Paxos Gold is a gold tokenization product issued by the compliant fintech company Paxos, aiming to achieve efficient management and on-chain circulation of physical gold through blockchain technology. Its core value lies in combining the value preservation attributes of traditional gold with the programmability of blockchain, allowing investors to conveniently participate in gold investment without bearing the storage and transportation costs of physical gold, while supporting 24/7 global trading and DeFi ecosystem synergy.

• Token Model:

• Core token: $PAXG (ERC-20 standard), strictly adhering to the 1:1 pegging rule, with each token corresponding to 1 ounce of LBMA-certified standard physical gold, stored and secured by top global custodians like Brink's.

• Issuance and redemption mechanism: When users purchase $PAXG, Paxos simultaneously increases its holdings of an equivalent amount of physical gold; upon redemption, the tokens are destroyed, and the corresponding gold is released, ensuring that the total amount of on-chain tokens matches the off-chain gold reserves, eliminating the risk of over-issuance.

• Investor Structure: Retail investors (purchasing through crypto exchanges and wallets), institutions (asset management companies with gold exposure), and DeFi protocols (as collateral to supplement stablecoin issuance reserves).

• Product Mechanism: Smart contracts link to custodians' gold reserve proofs (verified through Chainlink PoR oracles), supporting the redemption of physical gold at any time (subject to minimum amounts and fee requirements), and allowing free trading on DEXs (e.g., Uniswap).

• Yield Logic: Long-term value appreciation of gold (against inflation) + liquidity yield from on-chain trading/collateralization (e.g., staking $PAXG to generate $DAI, then investing in DeFi mining); Paxos charges redemption fees, custody fees, and transaction service fees to cover gold storage, auditing, and technical maintenance costs, forming a sustainable operational closed loop.

4.4 Equity Sector: xStocks (Backed Finance U.S. Stock Tokenization Platform)

xStocks is a U.S. stock tokenization platform launched by Swiss fintech company Backed Finance, converting U.S. stocks like Tesla (TSLAx) into tradable tokens on-chain via the Solana blockchain. Its core goal is to break the time zone restrictions and liquidity barriers of traditional stock markets while integrating DeFi ecosystems to achieve the programmability of stock assets. As of July 2025, its tokens have been listed on exchanges like Bybit, Kraken, and DEXs like Raydium, becoming a representative case of "around-the-clock trading + on-chain reuse" in the equity tokenization field.

• Token Model:

• Core token: Issued based on the SPL standard on Solana (e.g., $TSLAx corresponding to Tesla stock), with a 1:1 peg to the underlying stock, each token backed by 1 share of real stock held by Backed in collaboration with compliant institutions (e.g., U.S. Alpaca Securities, Switzerland's InCore Bank).

• Pricing mechanism: Real-time synchronization of U.S. stock prices through Chainlink oracles, with trading prices formed autonomously based on on-chain supply and demand, referencing the last closing price during traditional market closures (e.g., weekends, holidays), possessing "predictive market" attributes.

• Investor Structure: No strict accredited investor restrictions (subject to exchange KYC), covering individual investors (purchasing through Bybit, Kraken, or Solana wallets) and small asset management companies (configuring fragmented U.S. stock exposure).

• Product Mechanism:

• Issuance and custody: Backed pre-purchases the underlying stocks, held by compliant brokers and banks, minting corresponding tokens on the Solana chain at a 1:1 ratio; upon redemption, tokens are destroyed, and off-chain stocks are released, ensuring transparency of reserves (periodically verified through Proof of Reserve mechanisms).

• Rights handling: Does not support shareholder voting rights or participation in shareholder meetings, but dividend income is realized through "token airdrops"—after the underlying stock dividends, Backed issues additional tokens to token holders based on their holdings, indirectly conveying economic benefits.

• On-chain circulation: Supports 24/7 trading (breaking traditional stock market time restrictions), allowing trading on centralized exchanges (Bybit, Kraken) and decentralized platforms (Raydium, Jupiter), while also possessing cross-chain potential (future plans to integrate cross-chain bridges).

• Yield Logic: Appreciation of underlying stocks and dividend income + liquidity premium from on-chain trading (fractional trading, 24/7 markets); Backed charges token issuance fees, custody fees, and transaction channel fees to cover compliance and technical costs.

4.5 RWA Infrastructure Sector: Plume Network

Plume Network is a full-stack blockchain platform focused on Real World Assets (RWA), aiming to build a bridge between traditional finance and the crypto space, efficiently bringing various real assets on-chain and integrating them with the DeFi ecosystem, addressing compliance, liquidity, and user experience challenges faced by RWA projects in the asset tokenization process.

• Token Model:

• Core token: $PLUME (ERC-20 standard), with a total supply of 10 billion tokens, 59% allocated for community incentives and ecological development. Token functions include paying on-chain transaction fees, participating in governance votes, staking for yield sharing, and serving as a settlement medium for asset trading within the ecosystem.

• Incentive design: Users configuring RWA assets (e.g., real estate tokens, credit certificates) on the platform can earn additional $PLUME rewards, with reward ratios linked to asset holding periods and staking amounts, enhancing ecological stickiness.

• Investor Structure: Institutional investors like Brevan Howard Digital and Haun Ventures are investing and promoting on-chain pilot projects for their assets; retail and crypto-native users participate in trading and mining through Passport wallets, primarily personal investors seeking a combination of "traditional assets + crypto yields," focusing on compliance and cross-chain opportunities.

• Product Mechanism:

• Asset classification management: Covers collectibles (e.g., sneakers, Pokémon cards, watches, wine, and art), alternative assets (private credit, real estate, or green energy projects), and financial instruments (stocks or corporate bonds), catering to users with different risk preferences and investment needs.

• Supporting suite:

• Arc: Token issuance system for marking assets, assisting in bringing assets on-chain in flexible forms like NFTs, tokens, or composite assets, optimizing asset issuance structures and enhancing liquidity.

• Nexus: A dedicated oracle for the RWA track, ensuring accurate synchronization of on-chain information with off-chain asset data, providing a reliable data foundation for transactions and yield calculations.

• Passport: An asset management tool that integrates different token standards and on-chain DeFi composability into a smart wallet, allowing users to conveniently participate in various RWA asset operations and DeFi applications, such as yield farming.

• SkyLink: A cross-chain bridge that allows users to access institutional-level RWA yields without permission, breaking down inter-chain barriers and expanding the range of asset circulation.

• Compliance assurance: Relying on partners in different regions, flexibly switching licenses to meet local regulatory requirements, providing a full set of compliance solutions from development to operation, ensuring the safety and legality of asset tokenization. For example, its supported ERC 3643 standard utilizes a built-in decentralized identity system ONCHAINID, ensuring that only users meeting specific standards can hold tokens, maintaining regulatory compliance.

• Yield Logic:

• User yield: Users participating in different asset projects on the platform can earn yields from the assets themselves, such as stable returns from green energy projects; simultaneously, by staking $PLUME, they can share platform transaction fee yields and also capture capital gains through trading during asset price fluctuations. For example, in the collectibles asset category, users can engage in asset buying, collateralized lending, and asset synthesis trading, seizing opportunities from price changes.

• Platform yield: Plume covers operational costs and achieves profitability by charging asset issuance fees, transaction fees, and service fees for institutions, forming a sustainable business operation model. Additionally, as the ecosystem thrives, the demand and value of the $PLUME token are expected to rise, bringing additional token appreciation benefits to the platform.

5. Challenges and Reflections

The explosive growth of RWA is not without its challenges; it fundamentally represents a collision and compromise between "traditional asset logic" and "blockchain decentralization philosophy." The following five dimensions directly address core contradictions, revealing the "structural challenges" that the industry cannot avoid:

5.1 Legal and Regulatory: Dynamic Balance of Rule Adaptation

• The double-edged sword of regulatory arbitrage: Currently, many RWA projects choose the "offshore registration + onshore operation" model (e.g., issuing from BVI companies, involving U.S. users), seemingly compliant with the Reg D/S framework, but in reality, this lays the groundwork for "jurisdictional conflicts." For instance, the EU's MiCA views U.S. Treasury tokens as "asset-referenced tokens," while the U.S. SEC may classify them as "securities." If cross-regional trading leads to disputes, investors may face a "nowhere to seek redress" dilemma.

• The gray area of ownership definition: The SPV structure claims "token = equity certificate," but the legal connection between on-chain token transfers and off-chain asset transfers remains blank. If a holder of a property token is sued due to debt disputes, can the court directly freeze the off-chain property rights corresponding to their on-chain tokens? Currently, there are no judicial precedents globally to support this, creating a "legal gap" that reduces RWA to "self-certified compliant digital IOUs."

5.2 Valuation and Transparency: Boundaries of Data Credibility

• The dark door of data manipulation: While oracles like Chainlink claim to be "decentralized," the off-chain data they capture (e.g., corporate bond ratings, property valuations) still relies on centralized institutions like S&P and Jones Lang LaSalle. If a private credit protocol colludes with a rating agency to manipulate default rate data, the on-chain smart contract will execute settlements based on false information, resulting in "systemic fraud backed by digital endorsements."

• There is a trade-off between the timeliness and accuracy of dynamic valuations: Standardized assets (e.g., U.S. Treasuries) can achieve precise pricing through high-frequency data updates, but the valuation cycle for non-standard assets (e.g., private equity) is longer, potentially causing a lag between on-chain token prices and actual asset values, leading to arbitrage or liquidation risks.

5.3 Liquidity and Composability: Real Constraints of Ecological Synergy

• The liquidity of RWA tokens exhibits clear stratification: Standardized assets like U.S. Treasuries and gold have certain trading depths in both DEX and CEX due to high market acceptance, but secondary trading of non-standard assets like private credit and equity remains relatively thin, primarily relying on redemption mechanisms within protocols, which diverges from the original intention of "blockchain enhancing asset liquidity."

• Cross-chain and cross-ecosystem composability faces both technical and trust challenges: Although cross-chain bridges and Layer2 solutions attempt to address asset circulation issues between different public chains, the trust costs of asset custody, transaction fees, and potential security risks during cross-chain processes may undermine the synergy efficiency between RWA and the DeFi ecosystem. For example, if a U.S. Treasury token on one chain needs to be staked in a lending protocol on another chain, the trust costs in the intermediate steps may offset the on-chain composability yields.

5.4 Risk Control System Implementation: Risk Transmission Between Online and Offline

• On-chain risk control rules cannot fully cover off-chain risks: Smart contracts can control on-chain risks through parameters like collateral ratios and liquidation thresholds, but for actual defaults of off-chain assets (e.g., bankruptcy of corporate bond issuers, damage to property collateral), on-chain mechanisms often can only respond passively, making it difficult to intervene proactively. This "risk control gap" may lead to investor losses.

• The cross-transmission of systemic risks deserves attention: RWA has a strong correlation with traditional financial markets (e.g., U.S. Treasury RWA is influenced by interest rate policies), while the leverage mechanisms in the DeFi ecosystem may amplify this correlation. When traditional markets experience fluctuations, whether the price volatility of RWA tokens will trigger on-chain liquidity crises through channels like collateralized lending remains to be tested over a longer period.

5.5 Technical Infrastructure and Trust Bridges: The Gradual Nature of Decentralization

• Existing blockchain performance falls short of the scalability demands of RWA: Issues like throughput and gas fees on public chains like Ethereum pose barriers to large-scale institutional capital participation in RWA transactions. Although Layer2 and new public chains have made breakthroughs in performance, their ecological maturity and security have not yet been fully recognized by institutions.

• The construction of trust mechanisms remains a hybrid model: While RWA emphasizes "disintermediation," actual operations still rely on custodial institutions (e.g., custodians of gold, custodial banks for bonds), auditing institutions (e.g., reserve verification), and other centralized roles. This "technical decentralization + trust centralization" hybrid model is the practical choice at the current stage, but whether it will evolve into "traditional finance empowered by blockchain" in the long term remains uncertain.

The development of RWA is essentially a cross-system integration experiment, with challenges arising from both the objective limitations of technology implementation and the deep integration of financial logic and technological philosophy. Solving these issues may require the joint evolution of industry, regulation, and technology, rather than breakthroughs in a single dimension, and its ultimate form still awaits continuous exploration and validation by the market.