'When everything can be tokenized, what do we still need that is real?' At a time when RWA (Real World Assets) has become a new round of windfall in the crypto market, this question is increasingly worth raising repeatedly.
Since the beginning of this year, from the United States to the European Union, from Wall Street to Hong Kong, RWA is undoubtedly the hottest keyword in the finance and crypto circles. Whether it is Ondo Finance putting U.S. short-term government bonds 'on-chain,' or BlackRock using blockchain to 'split' commercial real estate rights, or Standard Chartered using blockchain to handle letters of credit, it seems that the whole world is rushing towards the direction of 'everything can be tokenized.' However, behind this seemingly unstoppable technological revolution, some fundamental questions are slowly emerging: Can RWA really change finance? Can it truly achieve both 'acclaim and market success'? What does it mean for ordinary investors?
If we summarize the logic of RWA in one sentence, it would be—asset tokenization. Based on asset securitization, taking a step further to encapsulate the rights and risks of the underlying assets into individual tokens, and circulating and trading them through blockchain. Theoretically, this model can fully leverage the technological advantages of blockchain: lowering investment thresholds, improving trading efficiency, and achieving 24/7 uninterrupted automatic execution. However, the problem is equally sharp: blockchain is merely a 'docile ledger'; it cannot see or touch everything in the real world. If 'data is not on-chain,' then 'assets on-chain' are merely castles in the air.
(Wall Street Journal) A recent analysis report on the RWA market pointed out that the cases of RWA successfully landing globally are almost all centered around financial assets, such as short-term government bonds, REITs, letters of credit, and commercial real estate, with almost no real cases based on 'physical assets.' This is because financial assets are inherently 'data-driven,' while physical assets rely heavily on 'unstructured' real-world information for valuation and risk management, making it difficult to achieve 'fully trustworthy data on-chain' at this stage. This is what the industry often refers to as 'to go on-chain, first go online'—only by digitizing assets at the information level can blockchain have usable data.
This means that while we can imagine 'everything can be RWA,' the boundaries of reality are clear: RWA is not a universal key to technology, but a tool limited by scenarios.
This also explains why Ant Group chose the new energy industry as the pilot track for RWA. Because the new energy sector, from power generation, energy storage, to the use of charging piles, has already been highly digitized, with a foundation of synchronized data flow and cash flow. Such assets can be 'visualized' on the blockchain and 'controlled' in smart contracts, ultimately becoming products that investors are 'willing to invest in.' But if a charging pile relies solely on manual charging, what is the point of putting that asset on-chain?
To convert technological advantages into financial advantages, it must rely on 'data verifiability.' This actually provides important insights for the 'landing path' of RWA: only those assets that naturally have high levels of data and high automation scenarios are likely to be the direction that RWA prioritizes overcoming. This also means that not all financial products are worth reconstructing with RWA. Taking REITs as an example, although the tokenization of REITs can bring better global liquidity and trading convenience, if the underlying assets cannot provide reliable valuations periodically, tokenization may instead introduce new risks.
Taking FTJLabs' REITs Token as an example, this project provides asset net value reports through licensed custodians off-chain, ensuring the anchoring relationship between on-chain tokens and actual assets, while also supporting token trading, dividends, and information disclosure through on-chain protocols. It seems like 'blockchain reconstructing finance,' yet it still relies on the credit endorsement and data provision of traditional financial institutions. This is also the most realistic way for RWA to survive at this stage: using blockchain to optimize the 'transaction layer' rather than completely overturning the 'asset layer.'
If we look at the funding side again, RWA is currently more oriented towards institutional investors, with regulations on tokenized securities in Hong Kong, the United States, and Europe tending towards a threshold of 'professional investors.' For example, although the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has relaxed the definition of 'complex products' for tokenized securities, it still requires intermediaries to communicate their business plans with regulatory authorities in advance. The real estate fund tokens issued by Taiji Capital have lowered the minimum investment amount to 1,000 HKD, but are still only open to 'professional investors.' For ordinary retail investors, RWA is still quite far from 'wealth freedom.'
More critically, can RWA really provide a 'shortcut' for financing small and medium-sized enterprises? In the current market environment, the cost of issuing RWA is not low: besides the capital cost (6-10% annualized), there are a series of fees including issuance fees, compliance due diligence, asset custody, data disclosure, etc., starting from several million. In terms of time cost, a single project from asset selection to issuance completion can take several months or even a year. For small and medium-sized enterprises with an asset scale of less than 100 million, this financing channel is not only 'expensive' but also 'slow,' and is not necessarily better than traditional channels. To some extent, RWA seems more like an 'alternative financing channel' for large enterprises that cannot meet listing conditions, rather than a solution for the 'financing needs' of small and medium-sized enterprises.
All these calm realities remind us: RWA is not a magic wand, but a tool. The effectiveness of a tool depends on the adaptability of the scenario and the support of the system.
So, where is the real opportunity for RWA? At present, it is more likely to appear in areas with high levels of data, standardized transaction processes, and clear regulatory environments. For example, the new energy industry, autonomous vehicle rentals, digital copyright, smart manufacturing supply chains, and even gaming and entertainment industries. Especially in the gaming and NFT fields, which are inherently oriented towards C-end users and possess 'virtual asset' characteristics, technology and scenarios are more aligned, making them a testing ground where RWA can more easily transition from acclaim to market success.
In the long run, as the Internet of Things, AI, and automation technologies develop, more and more industries will 'bring their own credible data,' and only then will the 'asset layer' of RWA truly have the basis for full-chain on-chain. In the future, when the operational data of self-driving taxis, energy consumption data of smart grids, and work data of AI agents can all be uploaded to the blockchain in real time, the application boundaries of RWA will truly be opened. At that time, it will no longer be a 'supplement to financial innovation,' but the infrastructure of the digital economy.
And during this transition period from 'proof of concept' to 'scale application,' how do we find the truly noteworthy trends amid complex information? How do we avoid bubbles and seize opportunities in a windfall? At this time, an intelligent tool that integrates multi-dimensional data and has real-time analysis and insight capabilities becomes particularly important. Platforms like Mlion.ai, for example, can provide 'truthful analysis' in the RWA track by real-time integrating on-chain data, off-chain news, social sentiment, and institutional research reports, helping investors capture hidden opportunities and discover underpriced assets. Especially in an emerging market filled with technological narratives and regulatory games, using AI tools for 'sentiment monitoring,' 'on-chain address analysis,' and 'AI daily tracking' may be more efficient and timely than purely relying on human judgment.
After all, investing is not a game of luck but a contest of information processing ability. In the age of information explosion, effective information screening and trend insight is the first step for ordinary people to 'see the situation clearly' in a complex market.
In conclusion, the RWA boom is not accidental; it is driven by the 'coupling effect' of technology and finance accumulated over decades. However, from 'bustle' to 'landing,' from 'concept' to 'product,' more calm exploration, more practical trial and error, and more institutional guarantees are needed. Every rise of a new technology goes through a process from bubble to maturity. History has repeatedly proven: people always overestimate the short-term effects of new technologies and underestimate their long-term influence.
RWA is moving forward in this curve.
Disclaimer: The above content is for information sharing only and does not constitute any investment advice!
