Real-World Assets (RWAs): The Future of Tokenisation

Key Takeaways

• Real-world assets are physical, financial, or intangible assets represented on a blockchain through tokenisation.
• Major institutions, including banks and asset managers, are exploring RWA applications due to their efficiency and transparency benefits.
• Ondo Finance and MANTRA are driving RWA adoption, focusing on tokenising assets like U.S. Treasuries and real estate.
• RWAs are one of the strongest real-world use cases for blockchain technology, demonstrating how onchain finance can improve traditional markets by enhancing accessibility, reducing costs, and increasing liquidity.

What Are RWAs?

Real-world assets (RWAs) refer to traditional assets that are represented on blockchains through tokenisation. This process creates digital tokens that signify ownership or rights associated with the underlying asset, making it easier to trade and manage assets onchain.

RWAs are broadly classified into three categories:

• Physical assets (e.g. real estate, fine art, precious metals)
• Financial assets (e.g. equities, corporate bonds, fiat currencies)
• Intangible assets (e.g. intellectual property, insurance)

Examples of RWA that could be tokenised

The majority of RWA adoption so far has focused on financial assets, particularly stablecoins (e.g. USDC, USDT). These assets offer greater liquidity and efficiency compared to their traditional counterparts. By leveraging blockchain technology, RWAs can provide cost savings, increased transparency, and enhanced accessibility, making them an attractive option for both institutional and retail investors.

Who Is Interested in RWAs?

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has shown growing interest in RWAs as blockchain technology offers a more efficient and transparent way to manage financial assets. By tokenising traditional assets like U.S. Treasuries, BlackRock can increase liquidity, reduce operational costs, and provide investors with seamless 24/7 access to financial markets. As institutional adoption of digital assets rises, BlackRock’s involvement in blockchain-based finance signals that traditional finance is embracing the efficiencies offered by decentralised technology.

Mastercard’s interest in RWAs stems from its commitment to modernising global payments and financial infrastructure. The company sees blockchain as a tool to enhance cross-border settlements, increase transaction speed, and reduce intermediary costs. To support this vision, Mastercard is building its own private blockchain, known as the Multi-Token Network (MTN), designed to facilitate tokenised financial transactions in a controlled and compliant environment. MTN allows institutions to interact with regulated, yield-bearing assets while ensuring security, privacy, and adherence to financial regulations.

What Projects Are Building RWAs?

Ondo Finance

Ondo Finance (ONDO) is a leading platform focused on bridging traditional finance with DeFi. Its flagship product, OUSG, offers tokenised exposure to U.S. Treasuries, allowing investors to access stable yield-bearing assets onchain. In a major development, Ondo became the first RWA provider integrated into Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network (MTN), enabling businesses to access its tokenised products without relying on stablecoins. This innovation enhances liquidity and streamlines transactions between traditional finance and blockchain networks.

Example of Ondos RWA platform

To expand its influence in the RWA sector, Ondo recently launched Ondo Chain, a dedicated Layer 1 blockchain built for institutional-grade RWAs. This blockchain provides a regulated and transparent environment for financial institutions to tokenise assets while ensuring compliance with existing financial frameworks. By focusing on accessibility and security, Ondo Finance is helping to establish RWAs as a mainstream asset class in global markets.

MANTRA

MANTRA (MANTRA) has positioned itself as a leader in real estate and institutional asset tokenisation. In a landmark deal, it partnered with Dubai-based DAMAC Group to tokenise $1 billion worth of assets, bringing properties, infrastructure, and hospitality investments onto the blockchain. By doing so, MANTRA improves liquidity, accessibility, and investment flexibility, allowing fractional ownership of high-value assets that were traditionally difficult to trade.

Conclusion

The tokenisation of real-world assets is transforming the financial landscape, making traditional investments more efficient, liquid, and accessible. RWAs offer a bridge between legacy finance and decentralised markets, enabling institutions and retail investors to benefit from blockchain’s transparency and security.

RWAs are one of the most compelling real-world use cases for blockchain technology, proving that onchain finance can revolutionise traditional markets. By bringing regulated, yield-bearing assets onto blockchains, projects like Ondo Finance and MANTRA are demonstrating how blockchain can solve real-world inefficiencies.

As institutional interest grows and regulatory frameworks evolve, RWAs are poised to become a trillion-dollar market, reshaping how assets are issued, traded, and managed worldwide.