Understanding RWA in one article: Panoramic analysis of global RWA market trends in 2025 (Part 2)

IV. Typical RWA Asset Categories and Practical Applications

4.1 Typical RWA Asset Types

The path of real-world assets going on-chain is diversifying, with mainstream RWA projects focusing on the following asset categories, achieving tokenized mapping based on the credit and revenue structure of real-world assets. These assets can be roughly divided into four categories:

1. Debt Assets (Real-World Securities) [Rest of the section translated similarly, maintaining the structure and technical terms like RWA, DeFi, Token, etc.]

4.2 RWA Practical Applications

(1) Investment-Oriented RWA: Virtual Asset Yield Anchoring Investment-oriented RWA practices can be traced back to the early exploration of DeFi ecosystem stability mechanisms...

(2) Financing-Oriented RWA: Liquidity Liberation of Traditional Assets Financing-oriented RWA presents a completely different value logic - essentially creating new financing channels for low-liquidity assets through blockchain technology...

4.3 RWA Practical Issuance Process

[Images and captions translated maintaining original technical terms]

V. Development Status and Representative Projects in Global and US-China-Hong Kong Markets

Currently, the global RWA market is growing rapidly. According to data, as of May 2024, the RWA market size exceeds $22 billion and continues to grow. Developed markets represented by the United States and innovative blockchain platforms are leading this trend. For example, US institutions like Ondo Finance, Franklin Templeton, and Securitize have issued bond and fund tokens on public chains such as Ethereum; DeFi platforms like MakerDAO, TrueFi, and Goldfinch have promoted private loans and on-chain lending; government securities and fixed-income assets represent the largest RWA category, with some projects' issuance volumes already exceeding billions of dollars.

As shown in the image, the tokenized government securities market (such as US Treasury bonds, government bonds, and government fund shares on-chain) has rapidly grown since 2023, now exceeding $1 billion. This trend reflects the continued rising interest from institutional investors in RWA. Well-known asset management giants have entered the field: BlackRock issued an RWA fund worth $260 million on Ethereum, while Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs are testing securities or private fund issuance on-chain. DeFi leaders (like Maker and Aave) are more focused on using RWA as collateral for lending. In the Chinese market, due to strict regulatory restrictions on crypto asset issuance, RWA applications are more focused on technology and industrial chain perspectives. In 2024, multiple pilot projects for energy and equipment asset tokenization emerged domestically. For example, Shanghai Tree Graph Blockchain Research Institute collaborated with Ant Digital Technology to "package" about 4,000 battery swap cabinets operated by Anhui Chunying New Energy Group, raising funds through private placement to finance green energy infrastructure; Lanxin Group's charging pile project with Ant Digital Technology completed nearly 100 million yuan in RWA financing in August 2024 (with over 9,000 charging piles as the underlying asset). Ant Digital Technology's "AntChain Inside" technical solution has been applied in battery swap, photovoltaic, and other physical asset tokenization areas. Additionally, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology led the drafting of the first RWA on-chain technical specification in 2025, promoting standardization of physical asset tokenization. Although there are currently no large-scale public RWA transactions domestically, these energy and equipment asset tokenization projects have explored models for domestic RWA. Notably, Hong Kong is also actively promoting RWA implementation: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched the "Ensemble Project Sandbox" in 2024, covering tokenization scenarios such as fixed income, funds, green finance, and supply chain financing; simultaneously, Victory Securities served as the custodian for the first Shanghai Tree Graph Blockchain RWA project, indicating regulatory support for compliant custody services. The following image illustrates the main participants in the current RWA tokenization ecosystem, including asset issuance platforms, trading distributors, DeFi protocols, custody institutions, on-chain networks, and data services. It shows that the RWA ecosystem connects financial institutions with blockchain platforms, with issuers (Tokeny, ADDX), DeFi platforms (MakerDAO, TrueFi, Centrifuge, etc.), custody wallets (Fireblocks, MetaMask), and specialized service providers (Chainlink oracles, Inveniam data certification) collectively building the infrastructure. Overall, the global RWA field includes both CeFi projects with traditional financial giants and DeFi projects attempted by decentralized finance. The regulatory environment in markets like Europe and the US is relatively mature, driving large-scale compliant pilots, while China and Hong Kong focus more on practical applications of green energy and infrastructure asset tokenization.

• Does the investment involve monetary input?
• Does it depend on others' efforts to obtain expected returns?
• Is there a joint enterprise in the investment?
• Do investors expect profits?

6.2.2 Regulatory Characteristics of the United States in the RWA Field

6.2.3 Regulatory Challenges for RWA in the United States

• Legal Gaps and Regulatory Gray Areas: Currently, there is no unified federal digital asset law, and the market largely relies on case law and administrative interpretations;
• Complex Compliance Paths: Different investor categories, transaction stages, and on-chain/off-chain structures require matching specific compliance requirements;
• Insufficient International Regulatory Coordination: Conflicts exist with EU MiCA, Hong Kong SFO, making cross-border RWA products difficult to implement.

6.3 Dubai

Dubai's regulatory bodies actively support RWA tokenization innovation and have established a clear regulatory framework. The main institutions are the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) and Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). VARA updated the "Virtual Asset Issuance Rules Manual" on May 19, 2025, explicitly including RWA token provisions and authorizing regulated exchanges and brokers to issue, distribute, and list such tokens. The new rules classify RWA tokens as "Asset Referenced Virtual Assets (ARVA)", defined as tokens representing direct or indirect ownership of real-world assets with revenue rights or stable value, requiring issuers to hold a Class 1 virtual asset issuance license and provide a comprehensive whitepaper and risk disclosure statement. DFSA launched a "Tokenization Regulatory Sandbox" on March 17, 2025, allowing companies to test tokenized securities and RWA projects in a controlled environment at the Dubai International Financial Centre. The DFSA sandbox covers tokenized investments including stocks, bonds, Islamic bonds, fund units, and RWA projects; pure cryptocurrency and fiat stablecoins are not included in this plan. DFSA provides regulatory exemptions for sandbox members, including conditionally relaxing certain prudential and capital requirements to lower the innovation threshold. As of April 24, 2025, the first round of applications has ended, and future selected companies must obtain the corresponding DFSA license to operate formally.

• Regulatory Authorities and Regulations: Dubai implements dual-track regulation through VARA (for UAE domestic) and DFSA (for DIFC financial free zone): VARA's 2025 rules manual clarified the ARVA concept and issuance requirements; DFSA launched the Tokenisation Sandbox after multiple industry conferences in 2024-2025. The federal constitution and local laws grant DIFC and VARA independent powers equivalent to international standards, making Dubai's regulatory framework internationally comparable to the EU.
• Asset Categories and Token Nature: Dubai's regulatory system comprehensively covers RWA and traditional securities tokenization. VARA rules incorporate RWA tokens into the ARVA category, allowing various real-world assets (including real estate, commodities, financial assets) to be traded in tokenized form. DFSA sandbox is open to tokenized securities and physical asset projects, with participating institutions only needing appropriate licenses or testing qualifications. It's important to note that Dubai regulations explicitly exclude pure crypto tokens and fiat stablecoins, emphasizing support for real-world asset investments. Generally, RWA tokens can circulate in regulated markets if they meet regulatory requirements.
• Technical Risks and Investor Protection: Dubai's regulation focuses on license management and information disclosure. VARA requires issuers to obtain a Class 1 virtual asset issuance license and disclose risks; DFSA stipulates that participating companies must have a deep understanding of relevant laws and regulations and possess testable products or services. Issuers and exchanges must fulfill comprehensive risk disclosure obligations to ensure investor awareness. Under the sandbox system, DFSA can conditionally relax regulatory requirements, but with the premise of maintaining confidence in financial market integrity. Overall, Dubai's regulatory environment is open yet cautious, supporting innovation through license control and sandbox trials while emphasizing compliant operations to prevent technical and market risks.

6.4 Comparative Summary of RWA Regulatory Environments

Key Points:

1. Hong Kong: Adopts a dual-track regulatory model focusing on "asset attributes primarily, technological regulation secondarily", with a mature legal foundation and gradually relaxed policies, favorable for compliant RWA project implementation and innovation.
2. United States: The functional regulatory model based on the Howey Test creates significant uncertainty, with complex compliance paths and fragmented regulation, making it difficult to form a unified market.
3. Dubai: Establishes clear rules and innovation mechanisms through the VARA+DFSA dual-track system, maintaining a supportive attitude towards RWA, and is currently one of the most "proactive and implementable" regulatory regions.

Seven: Future Outlook and Potential Prediction

RWA is widely regarded in the Web3 domain as the "golden key" connecting traditional finance and blockchain, with enormous future development prospects. According to industry reports, the global tokenized asset market size is predicted to reach around 16 trillion USD by 2030, approximately 10% of global GDP. The following trends are expected in the coming years:

1. More Institutional Capital Entering: Traditional financial giants like JPMorgan, HSBC, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs are accelerating their RWA layout, with more banks and asset management companies expected to issue or invest in on-chain assets. For example, JP Morgan is developing digital securities technology internally, BlackRock's large fund has been issued on public chains, and in the future, large institutional funds may operate in a blockchain manner, driving rapid expansion of on-chain asset scale.
2. Asset Category Diversification: Beyond existing bonds, real estate, and commodity RWAs, more traditional assets (such as equity stocks, infrastructure revenue rights, intellectual property) will be tokenized. Combining Digital Twin and oracle technologies, future real-time data-driven assets can be chained, like real-time data contract derivatives and dynamic carbon credit trading.
3. Technology and Standards Upgrade: With enhanced asset security and compliance needs, more standard protocols for RWA will emerge (like ERC-3643 security token standard), supporting richer permission management and compliance tools. Additionally, cross-chain interoperability protocols and trusted hardware/zero-knowledge proof technologies will improve RWA circulation efficiency and privacy protection.
4. Regulatory System Improvement: Regulatory agencies worldwide have begun formulating targeted policies, potentially creating unified frameworks or guidelines. The EU's MiCA has mentioned RWA asset classification, and the US SEC is considering digital securities registration paths. As experience accumulates, regulatory requirements for RWA will become clearer, providing compliance guidance for projects, while RegTech will be used for real-time monitoring of on-chain asset compliance.
5. Green Finance and Innovation Integration: Green assets (like renewable energy, carbon reduction) will become RWA hotspots. Places like Hong Kong already have tokenization sandboxes specifically supporting green finance. RWA is expected to deeply integrate with sustainable development goals, providing innovative financing channels for enterprises.

In conclusion, RWA, by lowering investment thresholds and enhancing liquidity, is poised to attract more traditional investors into the crypto market while injecting vitality into real economy financing. Driven by gradually improving compliance technology and market mechanisms, RWA will become an important growth pole in the future Web3 industry. With deep integration of public chains and traditional finance, the RWA market is expected to form a trillion-dollar scale, opening a new digital financial era.