Blockchain news: on-chain finance is experiencing one of its most important transformations: the tokenization of real assets, known as Real World Assets (RWA).
The report “Real-World Assets in On-chain Finance: The Ultimate H1 2025 Market Overview” – drafted by RedStone, Gauntlet and RWA.xyz – paints a clear and detailed picture of the state of the art, current trends, and future challenges.
2025 is confirmed as the key year for the convergence between traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi), thanks to RWAs.
What are Real World Assets (RWA) and why they are revolutionizing the blockchain
RWA are real-world assets – such as real estate, government bonds, trade credits, gold, or art – that are tokenized on the blockchain.
In practice, a physical asset is digitally represented in the form of a token, allowing for its trading, fractionalization, and integration with DeFi protocols.
This evolution is redefining the very concept of finance: no longer closed and centralized systems, but an open, transparent, liquid, and global infrastructure.
According to the data collected in the report, the total value of tokenized real assets has exceeded 6.5 billion dollars, with a growth of +72% compared to the end of 2024.
The most dynamic segments are:
Treasury Tokenized (USA government bonds): over 2.5 billion tokenized, driven by players like Franklin Templeton, Ondo, and BlackRock.
Private Credit and Real Estate: platforms offering tokens representing loans or real estate are growing.
Tokenized Commodities and Gold: increasingly used as a DeFi safe-haven asset.
A surprising fact: 45% of tokenized assets are currently used within DeFi protocols, demonstrating the real integration between traditional and on-chain economy.
Among the protocols and companies leading the sector, we find:
Centrifuge: specialized in the tokenization of trade receivables and financing for SMEs.
Maple Finance: si sta affermando nel mondo del private credit tokenizzato.
Goldfinch: DeFi platform for loans secured by real-world assets.
Backed Finance: offers compliant tokenized securities, such as European stocks and bonds.
At the institutional level, the report highlights the entry of giants such as BlackRock, JPMorgan (with the Onyx platform), and HSBC, which are experimenting with the issuance of tokenized bonds and bank stablecoin.
The most used chains for RWA
Ethereum remains the undisputed leader, but 2025 has seen a growing adoption of alternative chains thanks to lower costs and greater scalability:
Polygon: chosen for enterprise solutions and compatibility with regulated tools.
Base: driven by the Coinbase ecosystem, it grows as an RWA-friendly chain.
Solana: appreciated for performance and low fees, particularly for tokenized gold.
Starknet and other L2 ZK: emerging for advanced use cases and on-chain compliance.
The modularity of the blockchain infrastructure is a key element in the scalability of tokenization.
Tokenization does not exist without reliable oracles, capable of connecting off-chain assets to the on-chain world. The report highlights the strategic role of:
RedStone: modular oracle for financial feeds and RWA data.
Chainlink: de facto standard in the sector, expanding towards proof-of-reserve data and audit.
Pyth Network: focus on real-time prices and ultra-fast updates.
The oracles have become true layers of trust in the RWA ecosystem, ensuring transparency, accuracy, and security of data.
Despite the growth, the RWA sector still faces significant challenges:
Regulation: legal compliance varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and is often unclear. Protocols must balance decentralization and KYC.
Interoperability standards: common frameworks are needed for cross-chain management of tokenized assets.
Data custody and reliability: how to ensure that a tokenized asset truly exists and is securely held?
Communication with the retail investor: there is still little education and accessibility on the topic, despite the growing interest.
Outlook for H2 2025 and beyond
The second half of 2025 will likely see:
An explosion of institutional stablecoins, used to facilitate RWA liquidity.
New use cases for public assets, such as musical rights, physical collectibles, or infrastructure.
Entry of central banks and sovereign funds, which are testing regulatory sandboxes for the issuance and management of tokenized assets.
According to the estimates shared in the report, the tokenized RWA market could exceed 20 billion dollars by 2026, representing a significant portion of the overall TVL of DeFi.
In a world where decentralized finance is still often self-referential, RWA represent the most concrete bridge between the real economy and blockchain technology.
Tokenizing existing assets means:
bring new liquidity to the chain;
increase the stability and credibility of DeFi;
encourage institutional adoption;
offer retail previously inaccessible tools.
In short, the RWA transform the blockchain from a speculative niche to a global infrastructure of finance.
The first half of 2025 has confirmed an already ongoing trend: the tokenization of real assets is no longer just an experimentation, but a financial revolution in full swing.
Thanks to increasingly precise oracles, innovative protocols, and the entry of institutional players, RWA are rewriting the rules of global finance. Those who study, invest, and build in this field today are contributing to the birth of a new economic infrastructure.
