The RWA (Real World Asset) track was once highly anticipated by the Web3 industry, as it was seen as one of the core tracks for the mainstream adoption and popularization of crypto assets. However, due to the suppression of regulatory authorities such as the SEC, the RWA track has developed rather slowly in the past few years. With the election of Trump, the trend of relaxed regulation of crypto assets has become the general direction, and the RWA track has recently regained the keen attention of the market. This article will introduce the concept and classification of the RWA track, as well as the representative projects.
I. Introduction and Classification of RWA
The core idea of RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization is to convert physical world assets into digital assets through blockchain technology. Through tokenization, RWA can circulate, trade, and raise funds in a decentralized environment.
Depending on the different types of real-world assets behind them, RWA track projects can be divided into several categories, including financial asset RWA, real estate RWA, carbon credit RWA, and entertainment and sports RWA. The following will introduce and comment on the representative projects in these categories.
II. Financial Asset RWA
Financial asset RWA refers to the tokenization of various assets in the traditional financial market, such as US Treasuries, stocks, and bonds, to connect traditional finance and crypto finance, creating a more efficient capital flow mechanism.
Representative Project: USUAL
The USUAL project is an RWA tokenization project focused on the US Treasury market, and its token $USUAL is currently listed on the pre-trading board of Binance. The project tokenizes US Treasuries, allowing them to be traded on DeFi platforms, providing more liquidity and more efficient asset management. Through USUAL, investors can not only trade US Treasuries directly in the decentralized market, but also enjoy the stable returns of the traditional bond market, while avoiding the intermediary fees and delay issues in the traditional market.
Representative Project: MakerDAO
MakerDAO is an important project in the financial asset RWA track. MakerDAO has introduced US Treasuries and other traditional financial assets as new collateral categories by tokenizing them and incorporating them into the backing of its stablecoin Dai. Through this, MakerDAO has not only expanded the variety of its financial products, but also enhanced the stability and attractiveness of its market. Although MakerDAO faces challenges such as governance risks and market volatility, it has accumulated rich experience through years of practice and is gradually becoming an important player in the field of RWA tokenization.
III. Real Estate RWA
Real estate RWA refers to the digitalization of the ownership and income rights of real estate assets through tokenization technology, in order to facilitate their trading and circulation on blockchain platforms. The tokenization of real estate RWA can not only break through geographical and legal restrictions, but also provide small-scale investors with the opportunity to participate in real estate investment.
Representative Project: Centrifuge
Centrifuge is a DeFi protocol dedicated to the tokenization of real estate assets. The project combines traditional real estate collateral with blockchain technology, helping investors to obtain returns from the traditional real estate market by issuing and trading these real estate assets on the blockchain. The core advantage of Centrifuge is that it can provide a wider pool of assets, allowing investors to participate in real estate projects globally and reducing the threshold of traditional real estate investment.
Representative Project: Ondo Finance
Ondo Finance further expands its layout in the real estate RWA field by providing tokenized bond products. The platform not only tokenizes US government debt instruments, but also incorporates real estate market-related assets into some products, allowing it to better connect the traditional finance and DeFi markets. Ondo Finance's strategy is to provide investors with an efficient and secure asset trading platform through compliant and transparent products.
IV. Carbon Credit RWA
Carbon credit RWA is the tokenization of virtual assets such as carbon credits in the carbon emission market. The emergence of carbon credit RWA has solved the liquidity and transparency issues in the carbon emission market, allowing carbon credits to participate more widely in the blockchain ecosystem and providing users with the opportunity to participate in the global carbon trading.
Representative Project: Maple Finance
Although Maple Finance is mainly a lending platform, its carbon credit tokenization product also occupies a place in the market. Through cooperation with multiple institutions, Maple Finance provides investors with debt instruments based on carbon credits, allowing participants to obtain returns from the carbon trading market. Maple's carbon credit tokenization project not only helps to promote the transparency of the carbon market, but also makes carbon trading more convenient globally.
Representative Project: GoldFinch
The GoldFinch project promotes the tokenization of the carbon credit market by providing loans to developing countries. Its innovation lies in linking the loans for environmental protection projects with carbon credits, allowing investors to obtain carbon credit rewards by providing loans. This model not only promotes the development of green environmental protection projects, but also provides investors with a new source of income.
V. Entertainment and Sports RWA
Entertainment and sports RWA mainly involves the tokenization of assets such as sports clubs, artworks, and copyrights. Tokenization projects in this field can attract fans and investors from around the world, and have huge market potential.
Representative Project: TopGoal
TopGoal is a representative project in the entertainment and sports RWA track. TopGoal's goal is to "give everyone the opportunity to invest in early football stars and share in their future economic value", that is, to tokenize real-world assets (RWA) such as the future income and image rights of football players, allowing fans to invest. Recently, TopGoal's token $GOAL also announced team lock-up extension and cooperation with well-known clubs, which are positive news. $GOAL has been listed on the OKX spot trading platform.
Conclusion
The development of the RWA track not only pushes the application boundaries of blockchain technology, but also brings new growth opportunities to traditional industries. Although RWA tokenization currently faces challenges in technology, regulation, and other aspects, with the improvement of blockchain infrastructure and the gradual implementation of regulatory policies, the RWA track is expected to become a core segment of the Web3 industry in the coming years.
