Throughout 2025, the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is rapidly spreading, particularly on Wall Street, blurring the lines between traditional finance and cryptocurrency markets. The on-chain circulating RWA, which stood at approximately $5.5 billion (approximately KRW 7.9486 trillion) at the beginning of the year, more than tripled to $18.6 billion (approximately KRW 26.8807 trillion) by the end of the year.
RWAs are a structure that allows for the issuance and trading of real assets such as real estate, government bonds, stocks, and raw materials in the form of tokens on a blockchain. While similar attempts have been made in the past, 2025 is expected to be the year when major Wall Street financial firms launch actual products, marking the beginning of a full-fledged market movement.
A prime example is BlackRock. Since launching its Ethereum-based securities fund, "BUIDL," in March 2024, BlackRock has grown its assets from approximately $400,000 to $1.8 billion. This tokenized product, representing US Treasury bonds, is considered a symbolic example of how traditional financial assets can be traded on blockchain. Furthermore, specialized companies such as WisdomTree, Ondo Finance, and Sentrifuse have joined the market one after another.
Increased visibility into the regulatory environment has also accelerated adoption. Large institutions, previously in the pilot phase, are now selectively adopting the technology, and even conservative funds are beginning to take action. XYO co-founder Marcus Levin predicts that the pace of adoption will accelerate significantly starting in 2025, with key constraints being removed.
According to data platform RWA.xyz, private credit assets have emerged as the second-largest sector, with approximately $8.6 billion in assets, while US Treasury tokens continue to dominate the market. Commodities and alternative investments are also gaining traction.
Ethereum continues to dominate among blockchains. Approximately $12.3 billion of all on-chain circulating RWA was issued on Ethereum. BNB Chain and Solana followed, but the gap remains significant. According to Token Terminal data, Ethereum also maintained its lead in terms of user numbers, with over 20,000 addresses holding tokenized fund assets.
By asset issuer, Securitize had the largest market share at approximately $2.2 billion, followed by Ondo Finance and Circle.
The entry of retail investors was the catalyst for RWA's public visibility. In the summer of 2025, Robinhood launched a US stock and ETF token product based on Arbitrum, targeting the European market. The more intuitive structure than existing RWAs sparked a surge in interest from retail investors, establishing a broader understanding that RWAs were no longer an experiment exclusive to institutions.
However, limitations are clear. Currently, most RWAs are traded only on licensed platforms or closed exchanges. RWA.xyz analyzed that this structure has isolated approximately $402.5 billion in liquidity, which is 20 times the amount of RWA in circulation on-chain.
There's also a gap between the ideal of RWAs, which aim to provide "true ownership of real assets," and the reality. According to an Animoca Brands report, most equity-type RWAs currently in circulation are more like linked contracts, offering no dividends or voting rights. In fact, over 95% of Ethereum-based on-chain equity RWAs are issued by Backed Finance and Ondo Finance, and their structure primarily tracks the prices of large U.S. technology stocks or ETFs.
Nevertheless, the market outlook is optimistic. McKinsey projects that the RWA market could grow to $2 trillion by 2030, with an optimistic estimate reaching as much as $4 trillion. Galaxy Digital also projected a range of $1.9 trillion to $3.8 trillion.
On the other hand, NYDIG pointed out that the protocol's revenues may be limited in the early stages, and its true impact will only be realized after interoperability and composability are fully realized.
Regulatory debate continues. Citadel Securities' letter to the SEC argued that RWAs should be regulated under the same regulatory framework as traditional securities, sparking industry backlash.
XYO's Levin emphasized, "True innovation isn't simply about wrapping existing assets. The key is to redesign the asset issuance and management structure itself to fit the internet environment." By 2025, RWA will be Wall Street's gateway to the cryptocurrency ecosystem and a testing ground for restructuring financial infrastructure.
