With China's mobility industry already riding the wave of intelligent and electrified mobility for years, people initially assumed the industry's future lay in smarter scheduling algorithms and cleaner energy use. However, in 2025, Cao Cao Mobility's cross-border venture opened the market's eyes to a different path: bringing concrete, real-world assets like fleets, battery swap stations, and carbon emissions reductions onto the blockchain, transforming them into financial products that can be divided, traded, and circulated. Even more boldly, the company simultaneously explored the use of stablecoin payments, attempting to build a new financial foundation for future mobility services. This was not only a first for China's mobility industry, but also marked a new stage in the integration of the real economy and digital finance.
This exploration is not only an internal innovation project within the company, but also a two-way journey between industry and finance: travel companies have found new capitalization paths, and financial institutions have used this to capture new asset categories.
The global transportation services industry, particularly emerging sectors like ride-hailing and autonomous driving, has always been driven by massive capital investment. From fleet development and technology R&D to market expansion, high capital expenditures are a hallmark of business operations. Under traditional financial frameworks, companies primarily rely on equity and debt financing to meet capital needs, but this often leads to a series of problems such as shareholder dilution, high financial leverage, and increased financing costs. Therefore, exploring innovative financial tools that can revitalize existing assets, optimize capital structures, and broaden financing channels has become an inherent requirement for the industry's development.
Against this backdrop, the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) has emerged as an emerging financial technology approach. The core principle of RWAs is to digitally map illiquid physical assets or future cash flows through blockchain technology, generating digital tokens that can be circulated and traded globally. This process aims to merge the financial principles of traditional asset-backed securities (ABS) with the efficiency advantages of distributed ledger technology, aiming to achieve greater transparency, reduced transaction friction, and broader investor reach.
However, from theoretical conception to commercial practice, the application of RWA in the specific field of transportation services faces complex and practical challenges. This article aims to systematically analyze the application models and underlying logic of RWA in the transportation industry through an in-depth analysis of global cases, particularly those of pioneers in the Asian market, such as Cao Cao Travel. It also focuses on identifying the fundamental obstacles it faces in terms of technological implementation, legal compliance, and market acceptance, thereby providing an objective analytical framework for understanding the development prospects of this emerging industry.
In the summer of 2025, the intersection between the travel industry and blockchain is quietly becoming a turning point in industrial transformation.
The coupling between RWA and the transportation industry: asset base and value fit
RWAs aren't suitable for all industries, and their feasibility is highly dependent on the characteristics of the underlying assets. The transportation services industry is considered an ideal testing ground for RWAs because its asset structure and operating model contain several key elements that are highly compatible with tokenization logic.
First, asset standardization and cash flow predictability are fundamental prerequisites . Vehicles, the core operating units of transportation platforms, are highly homogeneous, making their financial data, such as acquisition costs, depreciation cycles, and insurance, easily standardized and manageable. More importantly, with the expansion of operations and the maturation of algorithms, especially with the emergence of automated services like Robotaxi (self-driving taxis), operational data (such as average daily orders, mileage, and revenue fluctuations) has demonstrated strong statistical regularity and predictability. This stable cash flow forecast generated by standardized assets provides solid data support for the construction and valuation of asset pools, as well as the subsequent design of financial products.
Secondly, digital transformation has spawned new types of quantifiable assets . In addition to traditional tangible assets, the electrification and intelligentization of the transportation industry has created two highly valuable intangible assets. The first is environmental, social, and governance (ESG) assets, particularly the carbon emissions reductions generated by new energy vehicle fleets. Amid the global wave of carbon neutrality and ESG investment, authoritatively certified carbon credits have become a tradable financial commodity with independent value realization potential. The second is data assets themselves. The massive amount of operational data aggregated by platforms, after undergoing strict privacy protection, is gradually gaining market recognition for its application value in areas such as urban planning and business intelligence.
Finally, the heavy asset nature of the industry drives a constant pursuit of liquidity . The development of autonomous driving technology is a long, high-investment process that consumes significant capital. RWAs offer an innovative financing approach: by tokenizing the future earnings rights of specific business segments (such as a Robotaxi fleet in a single city), companies can achieve targeted project financing without diluting the parent company's overall equity. This approach directly shares the risks and returns of specific projects with investors, meeting project funding needs while providing investors with a more refined investment target.
From direct asset tokenization to infrastructure construction
Globally, transportation companies are exploring RWA along different paths, forming two main models: asset-centric and payment-centric.
Path 1: Asset-centric deep integration model – Caocao Travel case study
Since Cao Cao Chuxing launched its Robotaxi service in Suzhou and Hangzhou in February 2025, the service's operational data has achieved a high degree of standardization and predictability. Every order and every kilometer traveled can be converted into trusted data on the blockchain, forming a natural RWA asset. More importantly, the Robotaxi business demonstrates stable revenue streams, earning it the industry acclaim as "digital gold."
Caocao Travel's expansion in Hong Kong represents the most in-depth exploration of RWA within the industry. Its model goes beyond the conceptual level and seeks to directly transform two core asset classes into financial products, creating a complete closed loop from asset generation to capital markets.
The first type of token is the right to future operating income. Its core design is to package the future cash flows of the Robotaxi business in a specific region and sell them to investors in a tokenized form. The financial essence of this structure is to isolate the risks and independently finance the high-investment, high-growth potential autonomous driving business segment. For investors, this means they can bypass interference from the parent company's other businesses and directly share in the dividends of the commercialization of autonomous driving technology. However, the ingenuity of this design also lies in its risks.
The primary challenge is the "oracle problem" of data credibility . The value of RWA lies in the true, real-time mapping between on-chain tokens and off-chain asset states. As a closed system, the blockchain itself cannot proactively verify real data from the outside world. Therefore, it must rely on a middleware called an "oracle" to feed data. If the sensors or data transmission links used to collect mileage and order revenue are attacked or manipulated, RWA, which is based on erroneous data uploaded to the chain, will lose its value. Ensuring the security and anti-attack capabilities of the "oracle" mechanism is a technical prerequisite for the success of this model.
The second type of token involves the tokenization of ESG assets (carbon credits). To date, all of Cao Cao's customized vehicles are pure electric vehicles. This vast fleet of new energy vehicles has cumulatively reduced carbon emissions by over 3.1 million tons, equivalent to planting 170 million fir trees. This initiative aims to transform the environmental contributions of the new energy vehicle fleet into quantifiable economic benefits.
By tokenizing certified carbon credits, companies can trade them in green finance markets or use them as collateral for financing. This approach aligns with the ESG investment trend in global capital markets, but challenges lie in valuation standards and market liquidity . The global carbon credit market remains fragmented, with significant price discrepancies for carbon credits based on different standards. Key to its success is establishing a fair and transparent valuation system and ensuring sufficient liquidity in the secondary market for tokenized carbon credits, avoiding a situation where there is a price but no market.
Laying the foundation for payment-centric infrastructure: The Grab case
Unlike CaoCao Chuxing's deep integration, Southeast Asian giant Grab has adopted a more roundabout strategy, focusing on building future-oriented Web3 infrastructure rather than immediately tokenizing its assets. Grab's initiatives primarily encompass two key areas: first, integrating a Web3 wallet within its super app, allowing users to access digital collectibles like NFTs to educate the market; second, opening cryptocurrency top-up channels in select markets to connect digital assets with everyday consumption scenarios.
Strictly speaking, Grab's current practices don't constitute RWAs. However, its strategic intent is to build both on-ramp and off-ramp channels . By cultivating digital asset usage habits among hundreds of millions of users, Grab is building the necessary market foundation for the potential issuance and circulation of RWA products in the future. When the market matures, Grab can quickly leverage its vast user network and payment system to promote RWA products based on its own fleet or financial services.
However, the real bottleneck of this model lies in its lack of application scenarios and infrastructure, namely the "last mile" problem from "on-chain to off-chain." For drivers, receiving USDC or similar stablecoins cannot be used directly for daily expenses. They need an efficient and low-cost "off-ramp" channel to convert the stablecoins into local fiat currency. This process currently relies on cryptocurrency exchanges, which is not only cumbersome but also involves transaction fees, network fees (gas fees), and potential compliance risks. For users, the "on-ramp" process also presents barriers to entry. Unless stablecoin payments can achieve seamless integration with bank accounts and widespread offline merchant acceptance, like WeChat Pay and Alipay, they will remain confined to a niche crypto user base and struggle to become a mainstream payment option.
This dilemma still applies to Caocao Travel. Even though Caocao Travel may launch a "travel coin" or internal payment points in the future that aligns with its corporate asset logic, committed to building a more comprehensive digital economic ecosystem, historically, countless points systems and internal tokens have failed to break through the "self-entertainment" dilemma. For a "travel coin" to succeed, it must establish a strong "network effect," meaning it must be accepted not only within Caocao Travel but also by a wide range of partners (such as hotels, restaurants, and retailers). Without the support of a strong business alliance, users and drivers will lack the motivation to hold and use it, limiting its application scenarios and potentially degenerating into a complex internal points system disguised as a blockchain concept.
Common challenges hindering the large-scale implementation of RWA in the travel industry
Although different companies have different implementation paths, the entire industry faces a series of common systemic bottlenecks in the process of moving RWA from concept to large-scale application.
Double risks at the technical level
First, there's the conflict between data privacy and compliance. Transportation data is highly personal and sensitive. For example, if misused, Robotaxi trajectory data could reveal user behavior patterns and personal privacy. RWA requires verification of asset status, which inherently increases the risk of data exposure. How to ensure data is "available but invisible" while meeting transparency and auditability requirements while leveraging privacy-preserving computing technologies like zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) is a legal and compliance red line that all RWA projects must address.
Secondly, there are the inherent security risks of smart contracts. RWA transactions, liquidations, and profit distribution rely heavily on the automated execution of smart contracts. However, the "code is law" nature of smart contracts makes them extremely vulnerable to errors. Once deployed, logical vulnerabilities within smart contracts are difficult to fix and can result in devastating asset losses. Even projects that have undergone multiple rounds of audits cannot completely eliminate potential technical risks. This requires ongoing and significant investment in security audits.
Lack of financial infrastructure
The healthy development of RWAs requires the support of supporting financial infrastructure, but this area currently faces significant shortcomings. Traditional asset-backed securities (ABS) have a mature system of rating agencies, audit firms, and underwriters, providing guarantees for asset pricing and risk disclosure.
In contrast, the RWA sector lacks recognized third-party valuation standards and a continuous off-chain asset audit process. This makes it difficult for investors to accurately assess the true risk and fair value of RWA products, significantly inhibiting institutional investment.
Furthermore, as the primary settlement tool in the RWA ecosystem, stablecoins also face the challenge of the "last mile." For end users like drivers, the cumbersome and costly process of converting stablecoins into local fiat currency will seriously hinder the promotion of stablecoin payments, making it difficult for them to surpass existing mature electronic payment systems in terms of efficiency.
Certainty and applicability of the regulatory framework
The regulatory environment is a crucial factor in determining the ultimate success of RWA. For example, in Hong Kong, while regulators have demonstrated a positive stance by issuing policy statements and establishing a VASP licensing system, uncertainty remains regarding implementation. The core issue lies in defining the legal nature of RWA tokens.
Depending on its structural design, an RWA token may be considered a "security" or a "collective investment scheme (CIS)" under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, or fall under other regulatory categories. Different legal classifications correspond to distinct issuance, marketing, and investor access requirements. This "case-by-case" regulatory landscape increases compliance costs and time uncertainty for projects, and is an inevitable stage in the early stages of the RWA market's development.
We are still at this stage. There are still many RWA projects of all kinds on the market. How to win the trust of investors and reassure the market should be an eternal proposition for all industries or companies launching RWAs to ponder.
The industry value and prospects of RWA tokenization
However, Cao Cao Travel's exploration of RWA tokenization still demonstrates four major value reconstruction possibilities for the industry.
First, it breaks new ground in financing channels. Traditional credit relies on collateral, but RWA uses blockchain to transform "light assets" like accounts receivable and intellectual property into tradable digital certificates, providing new financing channels for future-earning assets such as technology companies and green industries.
The second is a revolution in asset liquidity. After tokenization, "dormant assets" such as real estate and equipment can be traded 24 hours a day around the world, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in high-end asset allocation through fragmented investments.
Third, cost structure optimization. Smart contracts automatically execute terms like dividends and buybacks, eliminating intermediaries. It's estimated that RWA transaction costs are 30%-50% lower than traditional finance, significantly improving efficiency.
Fourth, inclusive finance has been implemented. The minimum investment amount for tokenized assets has been reduced from tens of millions to hundreds of yuan. Ordinary investors can indirectly hold "green equity" in Cao Cao Mobility's new energy vehicle fleet and share in the industry's dividends.
Looking ahead, RWA holds broad application prospects in the mobility industry. As autonomous driving technology matures and becomes more widespread, mobility services will become more standardized, making them even more suitable for asset tokenization through RWA. A new "mobility as an asset" model may emerge, allowing users to not only enjoy mobility services through the platform but also share in the benefits of industry development by investing in tokenized products representing the platform's assets.
As mentioned above, how to strike a balance between "maximizing data value" and "protecting user privacy" and clarify the boundaries of data ownership and usage rights will be the key to determining whether this model can be widely accepted by society and develop healthily in the long run.
Where will this experiment go?
The collaboration between Caocao Travel and Shengli Securities provides a clear and visual example of the application of RWA in the real economy. With the clarification of Hong Kong's regulatory policies on stablecoins and RWAs, Chinese companies are exploring innovative ways to integrate digital financial instruments with real businesses.
The capital market has responded positively to this partnership. CaoCao Chuxing's stock price surged over 20% within a day of the announcement, reaching HK$61.5 in the afternoon, a 46.6% increase from its IPO price. This reflects the market's strong expectations for the value creation that RWA tokenization will bring to CaoCao Chuxing.
From a broader perspective, Cao Cao Travel's exploration offers important lessons for the entire travel industry. Through tokenization, companies can open up innovative financing channels, reduce financing costs, and leverage the transparency and traceability of blockchain technology to clearly demonstrate their robust operational fundamentals and high-quality asset portfolios to global investors.
New possibilities for the future of the mobility industry have been unlocked: vehicles serve not only as passengers but also as containers for financial assets; and travel payments are not merely transactions but also exercises in financial infrastructure. With the clarification of Hong Kong's regulatory policies for stablecoins and RWAs, Chinese companies are exploring innovative approaches to integrating digital financial instruments with physical businesses. This not only sets a precedent for the digitization of physical assets but also enables the development of the RWA industry to move from "conceptual enthusiasm" to "real-world applications."
In the future, as Robotaxi enters large-scale operation, its service capabilities are gradually being transformed into tradable digital assets, and a new era of "travel as an asset" is accelerating.
Author: Zhao Qirui Liang Yu
Editor: Zhao Yidan
About RWA Research Institute
The RWA Research Institute was jointly initiated by a number of senior financiers, Web3 practitioners, industry innovators and technical experts, and was officially launched in Hong Kong on June 25, 2024 (full name: RWA Research Institute, abbreviated: RWARI).
As one of the earliest professional RWA research institutions in the world, the RWA Research Institute focuses on the field of real-world assets (RWA) and is committed to promoting the integration of traditional financial assets and blockchain technology. Through in-depth research and practical applications, the Institute provides innovative solutions for investors and businesses, promotes the digitization and tokenization of physical assets, and builds a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.
The RWA Institute's core mission is to integrate policy research, standard setting, and ecosystem building to help enterprises achieve digital asset transformation and provide technical support and strategic collaboration for global compliance development. Going forward, the Institute will continue to deepen the integration of digital technology and the real economy, collaborate with international organizations to host global industry summits, explore multi-sector application scenarios, and inject new momentum into high-quality global development.
In May 2025, the RWA Research Institute, in collaboration with leading institutions such as China Search and the China Electronics Digital Scene Technology Research Institute, launched the "China RWA Industry Think Tank," focusing on the development of global compliance in the field of asset digitization. The think tank empowers the real economy through three core initiatives: first, spearheading the development of international collaborative standards, such as the "RWA Project Evaluation Standards"; second, building a digital service chain encompassing "asset on-chain, cross-border circulation, and global transactions," integrating blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies; and third, establishing cross-border compliance channels with Hong Kong and Shenzhen as hubs to promote innovation in green finance and cross-border investment and financing. Furthermore, the think tank leverages its "dual-chain integration architecture" (a national-level alliance blockchain and a cross-chain protocol coordination mechanism) to strengthen technological autonomy and data security, and deepen cross-border collaboration and compliance governance.
