'The financing entity has shifted from enterprises to high-quality assets,' summarizes Ant Group CEO Zhao Wenbiao the essential difference of RWA (Real World Assets tokenization). He compares this innovation to a 'mini-IPO' but fundamentally changes the rules of traditional financing.
Langnew Technology uses its over 9,000 new energy charging piles as anchor assets, issuing RWA on the blockchain to easily raise 100 million yuan; a vineyard in Jiading, Shanghai, has its entire planting to harvesting process on-chain, successfully issuing 10 million RWA tokens that were subscribed by international capital. These cases are redefining our understanding of asset liquidity.
Deconstructing RWA, the new wave of on-chain assets
RWA is essentially the digital migration of asset rights. It transforms tangible or intangible assets in the real world—real estate, commodities, bonds, artworks, and even the future revenue rights of charging piles and vineyards—into on-chain digital tokens (Tokens) through blockchain technology.
This process is called 'Tokenization,' which gives assets in the physical world the characteristics of being divisible, programmable, and globally circulable in digital form.
The core differences between traditional financing and RWA financing are significant. Traditional finance heavily relies on the credit of entities (e.g., corporate ratings), banks require strong guarantees or even counter-guarantees for loans, with high thresholds and lengthy processes.
RWA turns to the credit of the assets themselves: as long as the project is of high quality and has stable revenue expectations, it can issue tokens on-chain for financing from global investors. Ant Group's CTO Wang Wei pointed out: 'Similar corporate financing requires due diligence, and physical asset financing also requires credible investigation, while Web3 technology addresses the credibility issues of physical assets.'
Why do we need RWA? Value and risk coexist
The explosion of RWA stems from its ability to solve pain points in traditional finance. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts that by 2030, the global RWA market size may reach $16 trillion, accounting for 10% of global GDP. Citigroup estimates that the tokenization of private non-listed company assets will grow more than 80 times by 2030, reaching approximately $4 trillion. Its core advantages are reflected in five dimensions:
Reducing thresholds: Properties or commodities worth millions can be divided into small tokens (e.g., $100/part), allowing retail investors to participate.
Enhancing liquidity: Illiquid assets (e.g., real estate, accounts receivable) can be traded on-chain 24/7, shortening the monetization cycle.
Breaking geographical limitations: The global interoperability of blockchain makes cross-border investment more convenient.
Increasing transparency and security: Transaction data on-chain is immutable, smart contracts automatically execute profit-sharing, reducing risks of human intervention.
Lowering costs: Disintermediation saves high fees from banks, lawyers, and others.
Risks cannot be ignored:
Regulatory ambiguity: Many countries have yet to clarify the legal framework for RWA, making cross-border compliance complex.
Trust risk: The authenticity of assets relies on the issuer and third-party audits. If the custodian commits fraud, the on-chain tokens lose their support.
Technical vulnerabilities: If there are flaws in smart contracts, they may be attacked by hackers.
Asset volatility: The physical value may depreciate (e.g., real estate dropping 15%), requiring dynamic assessment.
Overview of well-known RWA projects
The RWA ecosystem has formed diverse tracks, with the following representative projects:
Gold Token: The 'hard currency' of physical assets
PAX Gold (PAXG): Issued by Paxos, each token is backed by 1 troy ounce of physical gold stored in London vaults, supporting redemption.
Tether Gold (XAUT): Launched by Tether, backed by gold in Swiss vaults, alongside PAXG as a mainstream gold token.
Bond Tokens: 'Democratizing' U.S. Treasury yields
Ondo Finance (OUSG): Tokenized short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, with an annual yield of about 5.1% and a minimum investment threshold of $500.
Franklin FOBXX: Tokenized government money market fund, with 99.5% of assets directed to U.S. Treasury bonds and cash, subscription available from $20.
Innovations in physical assets: Breakthroughs in micro financing
Langnew Technology Charging Pile RWA: Anchored by the future revenue rights of over 9,000 charging piles, raising 100 million yuan through Ant Chain technology, pioneering the tokenization of domestic new energy assets.
RealT Real Estate Token: Splitting independent property rights, token holders receive rent proportionally, achieving a 'fragmented landlord' model.
Expanding alternative assets: Agriculture and carbon credits
Jiading Vineyard, Shanghai: The entire grape planting process is on-chain, issuing 10 million RWA for financing expansion.
Carbon Credit Tokenization: Xiao Gang mentioned that carbon credits, as intangible assets, can release value through RWA.
Hong Kong sandbox and compliance path, the future anchor points of RWA
Hong Kong is becoming a compliance testing ground for RWA. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the Ensemble project sandbox, with the Langnew Technology case selected as one of the first projects, constructing a 'two chains, one bridge' framework:
Asset Chain (Mainland): Physical asset tokenization into tradable digital products.
Transaction Chain (Hong Kong): Fiat funds tokenization, completing cross-border transactions within the sandbox.
This design provides a model for RWA cross-border flow. Xiao Gang emphasized that regulatory focus should be on 'asset authenticity, compliance, and volatility,' strictly controlling risks off-chain and curbing speculation on-chain.
Future outlook of RWA
Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and UBS have competed to enter the field, tokenizing gold ownership and bonds on-chain. Ant Chain's Chief Scientist Yan Ying proposed that 'extreme performance and security are the eternal pursuits of Web3 technology.'
With the maturity of blockchain architecture boasting hundreds of thousands of TPS performance and PB-level data processing, the future revenues of charging piles, vineyards, and even a forest will become flowing code on-chain.
When the values of the real world are reprogrammed, what we hold is no longer cold tickets, but real verifiable asset fragments — this is the financial equality future promised by RWA.