With the continuous development and maturity of blockchain technology, encrypted assets have evolved from the initial concept of Bitcoin to today's complex financial ecosystem, covering multiple fields from currency, lending to derivatives. People are beginning to explore how to combine traditional financial assets with the emerging world of digital assets, and RWA is gradually emerging. Traditional financial institutions such as Citibank, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan Chase have started to enter the RWA field, and the recent launch of BlackRock BUIDL Fund has once again propelled the RWA track to become a hot topic of attention.

1、 Definition and Implementation of RWA

RWA (Real World Assets) refers to the transformation of real-world assets into digital assets that can be traded and circulated on the blockchain through the use of smart contracts and blockchain technology. These assets are physical or legal assets that can generate economic value, covering tangible assets such as real estate, art, gold, as well as intangible assets such as stocks and bonds. The core value of RWA lies in introducing these real-world assets into the digital asset market through tokenization, retaining the value characteristics of the assets themselves while endowing them with higher liquidity and accessibility. In fact, stablecoins such as USDT and USDC linked to the US dollar are the tokenization of the US dollar as a real asset.

The implementation of RWA is mainly based on the application of blockchain technology, using smart contracts to represent and manage the ownership or income rights of real assets, achieving functions such as asset segmentation, authentication, and trading, and ensuring the accuracy and security of asset on chain. Through the tokenization process, real world assets are connected to the digital world. This process includes the following key steps:

1. Asset evaluation and certification: Firstly, it is necessary to conduct a detailed evaluation and certification of real-world assets, determine their value, and ensure their legality and authenticity. This step usually requires professional institutions or third parties to ensure the objectivity and accuracy of asset evaluation.

2. Asset digitization: After evaluation and authentication are completed, assets will be represented on the blockchain through the issuance of digital tokens. These tokens represent ownership or partial equity in real assets, which can be equity, debt, or other forms of property equity.

3. Smart contract design: While digitizing assets, corresponding smart contracts will be designed to regulate the usage rules, distribution methods, and profit distribution of assets. Once deployed on the blockchain, the execution of smart contracts is fully automated, ensuring the transparency and immutability of transactions.

4. Asset trading: Tokenized assets can be freely traded on the blockchain, and buyers and sellers can complete transactions directly through smart contracts without the need for traditional financial intermediaries, thereby reducing transaction costs and improving efficiency.

5. Equity realization: Holders of asset tokens can obtain corresponding asset usage rights, income distribution, or other benefits according to the provisions of smart contracts. For example, if the tokenized asset is real estate, token holders may receive a distribution of rental income.

RWA has created new asset categories and investment opportunities, enhancing the liquidity of real-world assets, enabling assets with poor liquidity in traditional markets, such as real estate and art, to be traded and utilized more widely on a global scale, thereby promoting the development of the real economy.

2、 The main types of RWAs

The classification of RWAs is diverse, and can be divided based on multiple dimensions such as the nature of assets, liquidity, and industry in which they operate. Each category of RWAs has its specific market demand and investment characteristics.

1. Classification by asset nature

Tangible assets: including real estate, land, physical commodities (such as gold, oil), artworks, etc. These assets have a clear physical presence and are the most traditional and common type of RWA.

Intangible assets: including copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc. Although these assets do not have a physical form, they have economic value and can be digitized through blockchain technology to achieve value transmission and trading.

2. Classified by liquidity

Highly liquid assets: such as gold, securities, etc., which can be bought and sold with minimal price impact in a short period of time, are preferred liquidity tools by investors.

Low liquidity assets: such as real estate, art, etc. These types of assets usually require longer time and higher costs to be bought and sold, but through the digitization of RWA, their liquidity can be improved to a certain extent.

3. Classification by industry

Financial assets: including but not limited to debt, equity, investment fund shares, etc., which are directly related to the financial market and are a key area of RWA digitization.

Non financial assets: such as real estate, agricultural products, mineral resources, etc. Although these assets do not directly participate in financial market transactions, their value is enormous. Through RWA digitization, new investment channels can be opened up for investors.

4. Classification by investment return method

Fixed income assets, such as bonds, lease contracts, etc., provide stable income streams and are suitable for investors with lower risk preferences.

Equity assets: such as company equity, investors can obtain company profit dividends or capital appreciation by holding equity, which is suitable for investors with higher risk preferences.

5. Classification by Asset Source

Traditional assets: These are assets that existed before the digital wave, such as real estate, art, etc.

Emerging assets: With the development of technology and changes in market demand, emerging assets such as carbon credits and data rights have begun to emerge, representing the innovation and development direction of the RWA field.

3、 Current Development Status of RWA Market

The RWA market has shown significant growth momentum in the past few years, with increasing attention from asset owners, asset management companies, and investors to the RWA market. According to CoinMarketCap data, as of April 11th, the total market value of RWA concept tokens exceeded $8.8 billion and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.

According to data from rwa.xyz, as of April 11, the total debt value of loan type RWA projects had reached $4.4 billion, and the value of U.S. treasury bond type RWA projects had reached $1.1 billion. It can be expected that RWA track is likely to become a trillion level incremental market in the future. According to the RWA concept section of the encrypted data platform RootData, there are a total of 130 RWA track projects included, including 43 coin issued projects. According to a report by Citibank, almost anything of value can be tokenized, and tokenization of financial and real-world assets may be a killer application for blockchain breakthroughs. It is predicted that by 2030, there will be $4 trillion to $5 trillion in tokenized digital securities.

On March 20th, BlackRock announced a partnership with Securities to launch the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), a tokenized asset fund based on Ethereum issuance. BUIDL primarily invests in cash, US Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. Appearing only for a week, it successfully attracted over 240 million US dollars in funding. Ondo Finance subsequently announced an investment of over $95 million, accounting for over 33% of the BUIDL fund share, and is currently the largest holder of BUIDL funds. Not only BlackRock is paying attention to RWA, but other major financial investment institutions such as Citibank, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan Chase are also entering the RWA field, driving a surge in interest in the entire RWA token sector.

In addition, DeFi head protocols such as MakerDAO and Aave have adopted Centrifuge as the RWA provider, allowing users to earn profits from real-world collateral, while Centrifuge asset initiators can borrow funds from MakerDAO and Aave.


As an emerging investment field, RWA has attracted more and more attention from investors due to its unique advantages and potential. The core value of RWA lies in its ability to connect assets from the traditional financial world with the digital financial world, achieving increased liquidity and maximum value of assets.

1. Liquidity enhancement: For many traditional assets, high transaction costs and complex trading procedures are often the main factors limiting their liquidity. By using blockchain technology, RWA can effectively reduce transaction costs, simplify transaction processes, and enhance asset liquidity. For investors, higher liquidity means lower liquidity premiums and higher asset values.

2. Market expansion: RWA has opened up a new way to digitize real-world assets, providing not only a new value-added path for traditional assets such as real estate and art, but also injecting new vitality into the crypto asset market. During this process, new asset classes and investment products continue to emerge, providing investors with more choices and opportunities.

3. Risk diversification: The diversity of RWAs and their underlying real asset attributes provide investors with effective risk diversification tools. Compared to traditional financial markets, RWA can provide a more stable source of income, especially during periods of economic fluctuations, where real assets often exhibit better risk resistance.

4. Technical support: With the integration and application of technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, asset evaluation and risk management have also been significantly optimized.