RWA in Cryptocurrency: Real-World Assets, Tokens, and Calculation
Date of publication: 26.02.2025
Time to read: 5 minutes
Date: 26.02.2025
Read: 5 minutes
Views: 187

RWA in Cryptocurrency: Real-World Assets, Tokens, and Calculation

Real sector assets are slowly beginning to integrate into the world of cryptocurrencies. As it is an innovative and very convenient way for users to dispose of their funds and assets. It is worth delving into this topic and exploring its prospects, projects and narratives in more detail.

What are RWAs

RWAs (real assets) are tangible and financial assets that can be tokenized and deposited on the blockchain. These assets include real estate, commodities, securities, and various other items.

Traditional assets have high barriers to entry, low liquidity and require significant bureaucracy in transferring ownership. RWA tokenization helps solve these problems by giving investors access to equity ownership of assets and trading them digitally.

RWA tokens

RWA tokens are digital assets that represent a stake in or are backed by a real asset. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH, which have no tangible collateral, RWA tokens are backed by real value and are more resilient to market volatility.

Differences between RWA tokens and regular tokens:

  • The main difference between RWA tokens and conventional tokens is that they are backed by real assets. While traditional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum exist solely in a digital environment and their value is determined by supply and demand, RWA tokens are tied to specific physical or financial assets.

  • Conventional tokens such as BTC or ETH are used primarily for payments, speculation and dealing with decentralized finance (DeFi). Their high volatility makes them less predictable. RWA tokens, on the other hand, are asset-backed, making them more stable and regulated. For example, tokenized real estate or bonds retain their value even if the cryptocurrency market is unstable.

  • Another difference is regulation. Conventional tokens often operate in a completely decentralized environment without strict legal oversight. RWA tokens, because they are linked to real assets, are usually regulated by financial authorities, making them safer, but also making them more difficult to issue and circulate.

Advantages of RWA tokens:

  1. Investment affordability - the ability to buy stakes in high-value assets such as real estate or precious metals and there is no need to own them outright.

  2. Liquidity - tokenization makes traditionally illiquid assets, such as bonds or art, more marketable by allowing them to be traded.

  3. Transparency - blockchain technology provides open access to transaction information, which reduces the risk of fraud.

  4. Cost reduction - automating processes through smart contracts reduces the need for intermediaries, lowering fees and simplifying transactions.

  5. Global access - investors from around the world can participate in the purchase of tokenized assets, expanding markets.

Limitations:

Despite the benefits, RWA tokens face a number of challenges:

  • Regulation - financial authorities require strict compliance with laws, which can limit the availability and flexibility of tokens.

  • Valuation - robust asset valuation mechanisms are needed to ensure that tokens actually correspond to real value.

  • Storage risks - the physical assets that underpin tokens need to be secure. If they are lost or damaged, this could result in a loss of value for the tokens.

  • Infrastructure - so far, integrating RWA tokens with the traditional financial system remains a challenge.

Plume

Plume Network is a modular Layer 2 blockchain platform specifically designed to tokenize Ethereum-based real-world assets. It aims to simplify the process of digitizing traditional assets while ensuring scalability, security and compliance.

Key features of Plume Network:

  • Modular architecture: The platform is built on Arbitrum Orbit, allowing it to inherit the security and decentralization of Ethereum while providing high performance and low fees.

  • ERC-3643 integration: Plume supports the ERC-3643 standard, which ensures token compliance by automating the control of asset transfer and ownership.

  • SkyLink: An interoperability solution that enables revenue from tokenized assets to be distributed across 17 different blockchains, including Solana and Injective, without the need for bridges or multiple wallets.

Recent accomplishments and future plans

In December 2024, Plume raised $20 million in a Series A funding round, underscoring investor confidence in the project. In January 2025, SkyLink was launched, expanding its interconnectivity capabilities. Plume's immediate plans are to further expand the ecosystem and support new asset classes to attract even more users and investors.

Ondo

Ondo Finance is a blockchain protocol specializing in the tokenization of real-world assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and a host of other financial instruments. Founded in 2021, Ondo Finance aims to combine traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi), giving investors new ways to interact with tokenized assets.

Key features of Ondo Finance:

  • Real Asset Tokenization: The platform enables traditional financial instruments such as treasury bonds and corporate securities to be digitized on blockchain, providing openness and accessibility to a large audience of investors.

  • Launch of Ondo Chain: In February 2025, the company introduced Ondo Chain, a specialized blockchain for secure and regulated trading of tokenized assets. Ondo Chain utilizes permissioning and interconnectivity bridges, ensuring compliance with institutional requirements and facilitating interoperability between different blockchains.

  • Ondo Global Markets (Ondo GM) Platform: In early 2025, Ondo Finance announced Ondo GM, a platform that gives investors access to more than 1,000 tokenized securities traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ, including stocks from companies such as Apple and Tesla, as well as exchange traded funds (ETFs). This enhances investors' ability to diversify their portfolios using tokenized assets. 

ONDO token:

The protocol's native token, ONDO, serves as a management token. ONDO holders have the right to participate in decisions regarding protocol development, smart contract management, and the operation of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). This provides decentralized governance and allows the community to actively influence the future of the platform.

Chromia

Chromia is a Layer-1 blockchain platform designed to facilitate the creation of decentralized applications (dApps) using a logical data model. The platform actively develops solutions for tokenization of real-world assets, providing developers and users with tools to efficiently interact with such assets.

Key features of Chromia:

  • Relational blockchain architecture: The use of a relational data model enables storage of complex documents and scalability, which is especially important when working with real asset tokenization.

  • Modular structure: Chromia provides developers with the ability to create dedicated chains for their applications (dApp chains), customize the commission structure and manage digital assets, which provides flexibility and adaptability to the platform.

  • Ledger Distributed Asset Protocol (LDAP): This protocol offers many benefits for asset tokenization, including improved scalability, lower transaction costs, and the ability to store complex documents directly on the blockchain.

Partnerships and projects:

One of Chromia's key RWA partners is Phlomis Finance, a platform that provides institutional and private investors with access to tokenized financial products. Phlomis Finance plans to leverage Chromia's infrastructure and CRWA protocol to overcome existing challenges in tokenization such as scalability, high transaction costs and limited access to required documents.

RWA Calculation

Calculating the value of RWA involves several key factors:

  • The market value of the asset

  • Yield (e.g., real estate rents or stock dividends)

  • Liquidity level

  • Regulatory constraints

  • Market volatility

RWA tokenization

The RWA tokenization process involves several steps:

  1. Asset selection - real estate, various securities, commodities, etc.

  2. Legal registration - registration of the asset and preparation of necessary documents.

  3. Token creation - issuing a digital asset on the blockchain.

  4. Ensuring compliance with regulations - complying with regulatory requirements.

  5. Market placement - listing the token on trading platforms.

RWA sector in crypto

The RWA sector in cryptocurrency is actively developing and attracting the attention of institutional investors. Key areas of development:

  • Tokenized securities

  • NFTs backed by real assets

  • Decentralized finance (DeFi) with RWA as collateral

  • Regulated RWA trading platforms

The RWA sector facilitates the integration of the traditional financial system with blockchain technology, empowering investors and increasing transparency in financial transactions.

Conclusion

Tokenization of assets from the real sector opens new horizons for traditional finance and the crypto industry. RWA tokens offer a number of advantages, including increased liquidity, transparency and accessibility. Despite regulatory challenges, the sector continues to grow and evolve, attracting capital and innovation.

FAQ

1. What are RWAs in the context of cryptocurrencies?

RWAs are assets that can be digitized and placed on the blockchain in the form of tokens. These can be real estate, securities, artwork, commodities, and other valuables.

2. What are the benefits of tokenizing real assets?

The main benefits are:

  • Increased liquidity

  • Access to investments with small amounts

  • Transparency and security

  • Simplified transactions and lower costs

3. How does the RWA tokenization process work?

The process involves selecting an asset, preparing it legally, issuing the token on the blockchain, regulatory compliance and subsequent trading on marketplaces.

4. What are the risks associated with investing in RWA tokens?

  • The main risks are:

  • Regulatory uncertainty

  • Possible fraudulent schemes

  • Market volatility

  • Limited liquidity of some assets

5. How are RWA projects in crypto regulated?

Regulation depends on the jurisdiction. Many projects are licensed and comply with SEC (US) or ESMA (Europe) regulations to ensure the legality of their operations.

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