Let's first look at a very impressive set of data: As of the end of May 2025, the scale of real-world assets (RWA) on the global chain has reached 23 billion US dollars, with a monthly growth rate of 6.4%. Among them, private credit and US Treasury bonds accounted for more than 20 billion US dollars, and have firmly taken the main throne. In other words, RWA is no longer just a slogan, but a real move to move assets onto the chain.
Data source: https://app.rwa.xyz/
👉What is RWA? It’s not that mysterious: you may have only speculated on BTC, ETH and altcoins before, but now even houses, bonds and gold can be “shared” on the chain - this is the magic of RWA (Real-World Asset).
According to Chainlink estimates, the potential market value of RWA could reach tens of trillions of dollars.
The founder of Plume also seized on this point, saying, "Blackstone alone has $12 trillion in assets under management, and once the relevant assets around the world are put on the chain, they will be a hundred times larger than the current crypto market."
Information source: https://plume.org/blog/rwa-2-0
Next, we will discuss the three major sections: global regulation, asset types, and typical projects, to give you a thorough understanding of the current situation and future of RWA.
1. Global regulation: warm up before getting on board
The attitude of global regulators towards RWA is to encourage innovation but not to loosen the rules. Major developed economies are stepping up the formulation of rules. Let me sort out the regulatory policies of various regions around the world:
👉Overall trend summary:
Europe and the United States: Regulation is becoming increasingly clear, with Europe in particular leading the way.
Singapore and Hong Kong, China: With clear policies and active promotion, they have become important innovation hubs.
United States: The supervision is cautious and the compliance threshold is high in the short term, but institutions have a strong desire to enter the market and are optimistic in the long term.
Middle East: Flexible policies, rapidly emerging as an emerging market.
Mainland China: Generally conservative, only cautiously exploring within the scope of compliant financial technology, with real large-scale asset tokenization being piloted in Hong Kong.
2. What are the types of RWA?
The RWA industry is very busy right now, with a lot of new words. Let’s pick a few typical ones to talk about.
On-chain Treasury Bonds/Treasury Notes - Turn stable assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and corporate bonds directly into tokens. Once you deposit USDC in your wallet, it is equivalent to buying a fund and receiving interest every day.
For example, Ondo Finance has transformed short-term US Treasury bonds and corporate bonds into OUSG and OSTB token funds, with an annualized return of 4-5%. Backed by the big institution BlackRock, traditional institutions are also willing to join in the fun.
2️⃣DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) - This line is a derivative of RWA, using blockchain to incentivize everyone to build real-world infrastructure.
For example, Helium allows you to earn coins by sharing Wi-Fi
Filecoin is a distributed storage platform. You can earn FIL by contributing hard disk space.
3️⃣Tokenized Treasury - To put it simply, a tokenized treasury is a company that converts cash and bonds into tokens and issues them out, allowing you to participate and earn returns.
The PYUSD stablecoin launched by PayPal is backed by US dollar reserves and short-term government bonds. The "PayFi Vault" program on the Plume chain uses PYUSD as collateral to bring users real-time convertible RWA income.
Do you understand? Real assets, in the form of on-chain tokens, open up the liquidity between traditional and cryptocurrencies.
3. In-depth case study: Plume and Ondo
When talking about RWA, we can’t avoid two big names: Plume Network and Ondo Finance. The former is a new RWA-exclusive underlying chain, and the latter is a veteran in the traditional asset management field.
1️⃣Plume Network: The first RWA-exclusive underlying chain
What does Plume do? In one sentence: Anyone who wants to put assets on the chain can come to me and I will do it for you.
👉Business Model
We have specially created a public chain, developed an asset tokenization tool (Arc) and a cross-chain bridge (SkyLink) to pave the way for various assets.
👉Profit model
It does not make money directly from users, but relies on the appreciation of tokens (PLUME coin) after the ecosystem prospers.
Nodes (staking PLUME) are responsible for maintaining the network and earning gas fees. The bigger the ecosystem, the more money they earn.
👉Token Status
There are 10 billion PLUME in total, and the current market value is around US$300 million.
The team’s holding ratio is reasonable (20%) and the community drive is clear.
Ondo Finance: A new blockchain approach to traditional asset management
The Ondo model is more direct: if you want to buy a treasury bond fund, I will make it into an on-chain version for you, which is cheap and convenient and can be bought and sold at any time.
👉Business Model
Launched on-chain funds such as OUSG and OSTB to compete with traditional ETFs (backed by large institutions such as BlackRock).
It charges management fees (0.15% per year) and makes money based on asset size (AUM).
👉Token Status
ONDO tokens do not distribute dividends and are mainly used for community governance.
The market capitalization is around $3 billion, with many institutional players and a stable price.
Can RWA really change the world?
Finally, let's think calmly. Can RWA really subvert traditional finance as the Web3 community says?
👌Optimistic side
After traditional assets are put on the chain, they can bring higher liquidity and lower transaction costs. For example, after the fragmentation of real estate, small retail investors can also get a share of the pie.
On-chain Treasury bonds allow global funds to freely switch between US dollars and crypto assets
Commodity tokenization makes cross-border transactions faster and cheaper
Build a bridge between traditional finance and the crypto world.
Caution
Regulatory issues are complex and ever-changing, and regulations vary greatly from country to country
Credit risk cannot be ignored, for example, the risk chain of government bond default cannot be exempted
When the market fluctuates violently, assets with stable returns may also be discounted
A large number of RWA projects are currently dominated by a few institutions, with a clear tendency towards centralization, which runs counter to the original intention of decentralization.
In summary, RWA is definitely a new track worth betting on, which can bring substantial impact to traditional finance and Web3, but the implementation process will never be smooth sailing and there are many challenges.
