Over the past two years, one trend has held its grip, and it’s only tightening: the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs).
Numbers support this, but it’s the community’s conviction around RWAs that makes it a standout case.
Earlier in October 2025 at Token2049, some of the industry’s biggest voices put tokenization center stage. Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev warned that it’s barreling toward the financial system like a freight train. Tom Lee described a structural shift in how Wall Street moves and holds assets. Meanwhile, policy builders, from Bo Hines to World Liberty Financial, highlighted tokenized assets as a decade-defining crypto onramp.
RWAs are increasingly seen as the missing link for global adoption, a rare and genuine “eureka” moment for the crypto sector.
Tokenized RWAs represent legally recognized or contractual claims on offchain assets, issued as tokens on programmable ledgers. This structure enables ownership, transfers, distributions and collateralization to be automated through software.
A practical way to think about RWAs is by category:
But if we already have the physical versions, why do we need digital twins? Let’s explore that next.
Tokenization solves real frictions in how assets are accessed, traded and serviced.
So, if programmable crypto has existed since the first Turing-complete blockchains, why are RWAs only emerging in the mid-2020s?
Two forces converged: yield and credibility.
With cash rates elevated, investors poured record sums into money market funds in 2025, making short-duration yield the default parking spot for institutions. That same backdrop made onchain versions of US Treasury bills and money market funds economically compelling, pushing tokenized treasuries to about $8.6 billion outstanding.
At the same time, blue-chip issuers entered the market. BlackRock’s BUIDL crossed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) within a year of launch and, by October 2025, had grown to around $2.8 billion while expanding issuance across multiple chains. It’s proof that tokenized funds can scale under brand-name managers.
Rules and public-sector playbooks also fell into place. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation’s stablecoin framework took effect on June 30, 2024. The broader crypto asset service provider (CASP) licensing regime followed on Dec. 30, 2024, giving institutions a clear roadmap.
Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore advanced Project Guardian and launched BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency), an initiative for settlement in tokenized bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins.
In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority created a digital bond knowledge base and introduced a grant scheme to subsidize tokenized bond issuance. The result was clearer compliance paths, lower pilot costs and faster time to market.
Taken together, these factors helped lift all boats. Non-stablecoin RWAs on public chains climbed toward the mid-$30 billion in 2025. The narrative is shifting from pilots and proofs-of-concept to broader issuance and distribution.
A genuine race is underway to build the infrastructure for RWAs.
Plume takes the RWA-focused layer-2 path. It offers Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) tooling on the surface with embedded compliance features such as Know Your Customer (KYC)-gated transfers and whitelists underneath. The project also has a growing pipeline of issuers bringing treasuries, private credit and fund shares onchain.
Centrifuge takes a protocol-based approach to tokenization. It connects real-world assets such as invoices, credit and real estate to onchain liquidity by converting them into legally structured tokenized representations. Its Tinlake platform finances various real-world credit pools, and its collaboration with Sky (formerly MakerDAO) illustrates how tokenized debt can interact with decentralized liquidity systems. Centrifuge’s infrastructure emphasizes compliance and interoperability as essential foundations for RWA activity on public chains.
Around them are specialist layers such as Polymesh, which focuses on permissioned, identity-anchored assets. Service providers such as Securitize manage cap tables, attestations and compliant secondary transfers.
We’re still in the early stages, but Plume, Centrifuge and Securitize are the ones to watch.
The upside is that the missing pieces are increasingly aligning: clearer rulebooks, reputable issuers, bank-grade custody and programmable settlement infrastructure.
RWAs don’t change what the asset is; they change how it’s issued, moved and used as collateral, compressing processes from days to minutes and broadening qualified access.
The smart way forward is pragmatic: scrutinize legality, redemption mechanics, disclosures and market-making commitments, then scale from narrow use cases to broader distribution.
If crypto is the internet of value, RWAs are how the rest of finance plugs in, step by step, compliantly and at increasing scale.
