What Is RWA? How Can RWA Spark the Next Financial Revolution?

“The financing entity has shifted from enterprises to high-quality assets,” said Zhao Wenbiao, CEO of Ant Group’s digital technology arm, summarizing the essential difference of RWA (Real World Assets) tokenization. He likened this innovation to a “mini-IPO,” which has completely changed the rules of the traditional financing game.

Langxin Technology has issued 100 million RWA through over 9,000 new energy charging piles as anchored assets on the blockchain; a vineyard in Jiading, Shanghai, has successfully issued 10 million RWA tokens and been subscribed by international capital, with the entire process from planting to harvesting recorded on the blockchain. These cases are redefining our understanding of asset liquidity.

Breaking down RWA, the new wave of on-chain assets

RWA essentially refers to the digital migration of asset rights. It transforms tangible or intangible assets in the real world—such as real estate, commodities, bonds, artworks, and even future revenue rights from charging stations and vineyards—into on-chain digital tokens through blockchain technology.

This process is called “Tokenization,” which endows assets in the physical world with the characteristics of being divisible, programmable, and digitally tradable globally.

The core differences between traditional financing and RWA financing are significant. Traditional finance heavily relies on the creditworthiness of the entity (such as corporate ratings), banks require strong guarantees or even counter-guarantees for lending, resulting in high thresholds and lengthy processes.

RWA then turns to the credit of the asset itself: as long as the project is of high quality and has stable revenue expectations, tokens can be issued on-chain to raise funds from global investors. Ant Group’s CTO Wang Wei pointed out: “Similar to corporate financing, due diligence is required, and physical asset financing also needs to conduct credible investigations, and Web3 The technology has solved the trust issue of physical assets.

Why RWA is Needed? Value and Risk Coexist

The explosion of RWA stems from its ability to address the pain points of traditional finance. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts that by 2030, the global RWA market size could reach $16 trillion, accounting for 10% of global GDP. Citigroup estimates that the tokenization of private non-public company assets will grow more than 80 times by 2030, reaching approximately $4 trillion. Its core advantages are reflected in five dimensions:

• Lowering the threshold: Properties worth millions or bulk commodities can be divided into small tokens (e.g., $100 per share), allowing retail investors to participate.
• Enhancing liquidity: Illiquid assets (such as real estate and accounts receivable) can be traded on-chain 24/7, shortening the conversion cycle.
• Breaking geographical barriers: The global interoperability of blockchain makes cross-border investment more convenient.
• Enhance transparency and security: Transaction data is immutable on the blockchain, and smart contracts automatically execute profit sharing, reducing the risk of human intervention.
• Reduce costs: Disintermediation eliminates high fees from banks, lawyers, and others.

The risks must not be ignored:

• Regulatory Ambiguity: Many countries have not yet clarified the RWA legal framework, making cross-border compliance complex.
• Trust risk: The authenticity of assets relies on the issuer and third-party audits. If the custodian commits fraud, the on-chain tokens lose their support.
• Technical Vulnerability: If there are flaws in the smart contract, it may be susceptible to hacking.
• Asset Volatility: The intrinsic value may depreciate (e.g., real estate prices drop by 15%), requiring dynamic assessment.

Overview of Well-Known RWA Projects

The RWA ecosystem has formed a diverse track, with the following representative projects:

Gold Tokens: The “Hard Currency” of Physical Assets

• PAX Gold (PAXG): Issued by Paxos, each token is anchored to 1 troy ounce of physical gold stored in London, and redemption is supported.
• Tether Gold (XAUT): Launched by Tether, backed by gold stored in Swiss vaults, it stands alongside PAXG as a mainstream gold token.

  Bond Token: “Democratizing” U.S. Treasury Yields

• Ondo Finance (OUSG): Tokenized short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, with an annualized yield of about 5.1% and a minimum investment threshold of $500.
• Franklin FOBXX: Tokenized government money market fund, with 99.5% of assets allocated to U.S. Treasury bonds and cash, available for sub_script_ion at $20.

Innovation in Physical Assets: Breakthrough for Micro Financing

• Langxin Technology Charging Pile RWA: Anchored by the future income rights of over 9,000 charging piles, raised 100 million yuan in Hong Kong financing through Ant Chain technology, pioneering the tokenization of domestic new energy assets.
• RealT Property Token: Splits independent property ownership, allowing token holders to receive rental income proportionally, achieving the “fragmented landlord” model.

Alternative Asset Expansion: Agriculture and Carbon Credits

• Shanghai Jiading Vineyard: The entire grape planting process is on-chain, issuing 10 million RWA financing for expansion.
• Tokenization of Carbon Credits: Xiao Gang mentioned that carbon credits, as intangible assets, can release value through RWA.

Hong Kong Sandbox and the Compliance Path, The Future Anchor Point of RWA

Hong Kong is becoming a compliance testing ground for RWA. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the Ensemble project sandbox, with the case of Longshine Technology selected as one of the first projects, constructing a “two chains and one bridge” architecture:

• Asset Chain (Mainland): Physical assets are tokenized into tradable digital products.
• Trading Chain (Hong Kong): Fiat currency is tokenized, completing cross-border transactions within the sandbox.

This design provides a model for RWA cross-border flow. Xiao Gang emphasized that the regulatory focus should be on “asset authenticity, compliance, and volatility,” and that risks should be strictly controlled off-chain while curbing speculation on-chain.

RWA Future Outlook

Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and UBS have been competing to enter the market, bringing gold ownership and bond tokenization onto the blockchain. Ant Chain’s Chief Scientist Yan Ying emphasized that “ultimate performance and security are the eternal pursuits of Web3 technology.”

With the maturity of blockchain architecture featuring hundreds of thousands of TPS performance and PB-level data processing, the future revenues of charging stations, vineyards, and even a forest will be transformed into flowing code on the chain.

When the value of the real world is reprogrammed, what we hold is no longer cold tickets, but real verifiable asset fragments—this is the financial equality future promised by RWA.