Written by: NFT Research
Between traditional finance and the on-chain world, RWA (Real World Assets) is rapidly emerging as a narrative path that is certain, scalable, and meets real demands. As the infrastructure of Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks continues to mature, more and more real assets are going on-chain, from high-net-worth bonds, consumer goods to real estate and commodity inventories, attempts at on-chain representation, trading, and settlement have entered the implementation stage.
The year 2025 is becoming a significant turning point for RWA. This path of integration has already moved from vision to practice.
RWA: Why is the crypto world embracing 'reality' again?
The crypto market is essentially an experiment in reconstructing financial structures. Starting with stablecoins, RWA has taken on the role of stability and value mapping in the form of 'off-chain anchoring on-chain.' Now, after several cycles of purely on-chain narratives, real assets have become the focus once again, with fundamental changes occurring behind the logic:
RWA is no longer a concept attached to stablecoins or bond products; it is becoming a complete on-chain asset narrative system.
From experimentation to exponential growth: The time for RWA's acceleration has arrived.
The realization of RWA is no longer a small-scale experimental exploration, but is gradually forming a trend of scaling. In the first half of 2025, the on-chain real asset market surpassed $24 billion, growing nearly fivefold compared to $5 billion in 2022, becoming the second largest crypto growth sector after stablecoins. This not only signifies an expansion of market size but also marks a shift in industry confidence—more and more traditional institutions view RWA as the starting point for entering the on-chain world, rather than an ancillary path.
This growth is the result of multiple factors working together:
Institutions officially enter the market.
Maturity of compliance and infrastructure
Market demand for real returns
According to industry speculation, by the early 2030s, 10% to 30% of global assets will achieve on-chain representation, releasing a potential value scale far exceeding the current entire crypto market by hundreds of times. Whether RWA can truly be 'utilized' will be a key indicator determining whether this transformation can go further.
The Ethereum ecosystem has become the main battlefield for RWA.
RWA aims to truly take root, relying on trustworthy on-chain infrastructure. The Ethereum ecosystem is gradually becoming the core stage of this transformation.
The Ethereum main chain acts as a trust anchor, responsible for recording core states such as identity, ownership, and settlement, ensuring data integrity and long-term availability; Layer 2 provides an efficient execution environment, significantly reducing interaction costs, making it easier for real assets to enter small-scale, C-end, or even gaming applications, becoming a circulation engine connecting the real economy and Web3.
More importantly, the continuous advancement of open standards within the Ethereum ecosystem (such as ERC-4626, ERC-3643, ERC-7765, etc.) is providing RWA with a unified asset language: expressing ownership while covering lifecycle and other stages, allowing assets to possess stronger composability and automation capabilities.
Under this framework, the on-chain path for RWA is no longer limited to 'confirmation of rights,' but moves towards 'usability': assets can enter DeFi, staking, claims, on-chain consumption, and other use cases, achieving an on-chain experience of 'use' rather than 'store.' Rollup builds a foundational layer that combines economy and composability, truly bridging off-chain and on-chain assets.
Ethereum is not just the 'soil' that supports RWA, but the core stage for the collaborative evolution of technology, liquidity, and standards in this chain reform movement.
RareShop and ERC-7765's RWA exploration
As a Layer 2 focused on building the next generation of on-chain asset protocols, Mint Blockchain is actively expanding the technical boundaries of RWA.
The innovative NFT asset protocol standard—ERC-7765, aims to break the limitations of traditional NFTs that only represent digital collectibles, deeply integrating NFTs with RWA. ERC-7765 not only inherits the basic functions of ERC-721 but also introduces a new 'privilege exercise' mechanism, allowing NFT holders to directly execute rights related to physical assets on-chain, such as exchanging for physical goods or enjoying specific services.
RareShop, as one of the first practical application platforms of ERC-7765, has created the world's first consumer-facing RWA NFT market. This process achieves full on-chain management through ERC-7765, seamlessly integrating traditional e-commerce with blockchain technology, building a bridge between digital rights and real delivery.
ERC-7765 represents a cutting-edge exploration of the deep integration of NFTs and the real world, marking an important milestone in Mint Blockchain's construction of the next-generation blockchain asset protocol ecosystem. As technology continues to mature, ERC-7765 and its ecological applications will accelerate the push for real assets to go on-chain, facilitating the seamless connection of on-chain economy and real economy.
Challenges ahead and future prospects
Although real-world assets are gradually going on-chain, their scaling still faces key challenges such as liquidity standards, but this is precisely the direction for infrastructure development in the next stage for the entire industry.
The good news is that the Ethereum mainnet, as a trust root, along with L2 networks represented by OP Stack, provides a low-cost composable environment, with standard protocols continuously advancing. Meanwhile, more and more C-end application scenarios (such as RareShop) are building an on-chain usage closed loop with real products.
The competition in the next phase will no longer be about storytelling, but about who can truly put assets 'to use.'
Ethereum is the starting point of RWA in reality, not the endpoint.
The realization of RWA is not a short-term trend, but a long-term collaborative process between the on-chain world and the real world.
And all of this is gradually taking shape within Ethereum and its L2 networks. It is not just a technical path but a joint evolution of financial systems, value expression, and social structures.
RWA is being realized. The main battlefield is already at our feet.
