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This report highlights developments related to the tokenization and on-chain adoption of Real-World Assets (RWAs). Our report includes details on centralized industry players and asset class coverage, as well as coverage of select decentralized finance protocols working to integrate RWAs on-chain. Information is compiled from Digital Asset Research’s (DAR’s) data sources, public sources, media reports, and press releases, and, while wide-ranging, this report covers only representative initiatives related to the development and tokenization of RWAs in the digital asset space.
Introduction
While many cryptocurrencies offer solutions to the challenges encountered by Web3 users, only a few digital assets possess characteristics that connect them to real-world economic activities. Skeptics contend that cryptocurrency use cases are confined to the digital realm, and therefore the value of crypto assets is not sustainable, given that much of daily life revolves around the physical world. Real-world asset tokenization bridges this gap between the physical and digital worlds. Real-World Assets (RWAs) are assets that exist tangibly offline, such as real estate or equities. Tokenization refers to the process of generating a digital certificate that is impervious to alteration or replication to represent an RWA on a blockchain. These digital certificates are backed by real-world assets as collateral. Through tokenization, investors can gain access to conventional investment opportunities in a more trustless and efficient manner via blockchain technology. Settlement can be conducted in real time and investors are always able to see where their assets are stored on chain. The spectrum of assets that could be tokenized includes but is not confined to, real estate, private credit, securities, commodities, and fiat currencies. A significant proportion of the world’s financial value is ascribed to RWAs, thereby presenting the potential for RWA tokens to access a total addressable market equivalent to the largest financial markets.
In this report, entities working on RWA initiatives are classified into two groups:
- Centralized organizations that offer tokenization services are detailed in the CeFi RWA sections.
- Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols that integrate RWAs with on-chain market participants are detailed in the DeFi RWA sections.
Significant RWA Tokenization News
- Over 20 traditional financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, participated in the launch of Canton Network, a privacy-preserving blockchain network designed for the tokenization of real-world assets.
- The market capitalization of tokenized securities across three prominent blockchains – Ethereum, Polygon, and Gnosis Chain – surpassed $225M for the first time according to a report.
- Investment management firm Hamilton Lane announced their second tokenized product, the Senior Credit Opportunities (SCOPE) Fund, in collaboration with Securitize.
- Blockchain lending platform Jia raised $4.3M in a recent seed funding round.
- NEOPIN, Galaxia Metaverse, and BKEX Labs are set to launch a real-world asset backed on-chain lendingplatform targeting South Korean customers.
CeFi RWA Industry Players
The table below provides details on a selection of centralized tokenization service providers.
| Entity | Website | Founded | Jurisdiction | In-House Blockchain | Tokenized Asset Marketplace | Fractionalization of Assets | Self-Custody | Total Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10XTS | https://10xts.com/ | 2017 | United States | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | £2,400,000 |
| ADDX* | https://addx.co/en/index.html | 2017 | Singapore | No | Yes | Yes | No | £140,900,000 |
| AlphaPoint | https://alphapoint.com/ | 2013 | United States | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | £23,200,000 |
| Arca US Treasury Fund* | https://invest.arcalabs.com/#/login?redirect=/home | 2020 | United States | No | No | Yes | No | Unknown |
| Archax | https://www.archax.com/ | 2018 | United Kingdom | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | £41,600,000 |
| Arf* | https://arf.one/ | 2019 | Switzerland | No | No | No | No | £14,100,000 |
| Bankex | https://bankex.com/ | 2015 | United States | No | No | Yes | Yes | £70,600,000 |
| Brickken* | https://www.brickken.com/ | 2020 | Spain | No | Yes | Yes | No | £2,700,000 |
| Canton Network* | https://www.canton.network/ | 2023 | United States | Yes | No | No | No | Unknown |
| Cerchia* | https://www.cerchia.io/ | 2020 | Switzerland | No | Yes | No | No | £2,700,000 |
| Enigma Vault | https://www.enigmavault.io/ | 2020 | United States | No | No | No | Yes | Unknown |
| Fnality International | https://www.fnality.org/home | 2019 | United Kingdom | No | No | No | No | £62,000,000 |
| Franklin Templeton* | https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/money-market-funds/products/29386/SINGLCLASS/franklin-on-chain-u-s-government-money-fund/FOBXX | 1947 | United States | No | No | Yes | No | N/A |
| HoneyBricks* | https://www.honeybricks.com/ | 2020 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| HouseAfrica* | https://houseafrica.io/ | 2017 | Nigeria | No | Yes | Yes | No | £525,000 |
| INX Digital | https://www.inx.co/ | 2017 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £96,500,000 |
| InvestaX* | https://investax.io/ | 2015 | Singapore | No | No | Yes | Yes | £150,000 |
| Jia* | https://www.jia.xyz/ | 2022 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £4,300,000 |
| Ownera | https://ownera.io/ | 2018 | United Kingdom | Yes | No | Yes | No | £20,000,000 |
| Paxos | https://paxos.com/ | 2012 | United States | No | Yes | No | Yes | £543,500,000 |
| Polymath | https://polymath.network/ | 2017 | Barbados | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | £58,700,000 |
| Pontoro | https://www.pontoro.com/ | 2015 | United States | No | No | Yes | No | £10,000,000 |
| Riddle&Code | https://www.riddleandcode.com/ | 2016 | Austria | Yes | No | No | Yes | Unknown |
| Robinland* | https://www.robinland.io/ | 2021 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £2,000,000 |
| SEBA Bank | https://www.seba.swiss/ | 2018 | Switzerland | No | Yes | No | Yes | £246,900,000 |
| Securitize | https://securitize.io/ | 2017 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £100,200,000 |
| Securrency | https://securrency.com/ | 2015 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £64,500,000 |
| Stobox | https://stobox.io/ | 2018 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £1,200,000 |
| STOKR | https://stokr.io/ | 2018 | Luxembourg | No | Yes | Yes | No | £8,100,000 |
| Structure* | https://structure.fi/ | 2020 | British Virgin Islands | No | Yes | No | No | Unknown |
| Taurus Platform | https://www.taurushq.com/ | 2018 | Geneva | No | Yes | No | Yes | £75,900,000 |
| Texture Capital | https://www.texture.capital/ | 2019 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £1,000,000 |
| Tokeny Solutions | https://tokeny.com/ | 2017 | Luxembourg | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | £5,660,000 |
| TOKO | https://toko.network/ | 2022 | Hong Kong | No | No | Yes | No | Unknown |
| tZERO | https://www.tzero.com/ | 2014 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £275,000,000 |
| Vertalo | https://www.vertalo.com/ | 2017 | United States | No | No | Yes | No | £7,800,000 |
| WeOwn | https://weown.com/en/ | 2017 | Liechtenstein | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| WisdomTree* | https://www.wisdomtree.com/investments/digital-funds | 1985 | United States | No | Yes | Yes | No | £126,400,000 |
*Newly added to the report
Key Takeaways
- 20 of the listed organizations are registered in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Switzerland with 3 projects each and Luxembourg with 2 projects.
- Only 7 organizations utilize an in-house blockchain network.
- 23 of the organizations have their own tokenized asset marketplace.
- 28 organizations support the fractionalization of real-world assets.
CeFi RWA Asset Classes
The table below displays the types of underlying assets tokenized by the selected protocols.
| Entity | Real Estate | Equities | Commodities | Fixed Income | Private Credit | Forex | Other (Art, Luxury, etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10XTS | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| ADDX* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| AlphaPoint | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Arca US Treasury Fund* | ✔ | ||||||
| Archax | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Arf | ✔ | ||||||
| Bankex | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Brickken* | ✔ | ||||||
| Canton Network* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Cerchia* | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Enigma Vault | ✔ | ||||||
| Fnality International | ✔ | ||||||
| Franklin Templeton* | ✔ | ||||||
| HoneyBricks* | ✔ | ||||||
| HouseAfrica* | ✔ | ||||||
| INX Digital | ✔ | ||||||
| InvestaX* | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Jia* | ✔ | ||||||
| Ownera | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Paxos | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Polymath | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Pontoro | ✔ | ||||||
| Riddle & Code | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Robinland* | ✔ | ||||||
| SEBA Bank | ✔ | ||||||
| Securitize | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Securrency | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Stobox | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| STOKR | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Structure* | ✔ | ||||||
| Taurus Platform | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Texture Capital | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Tokeny Solutions | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| TOKO | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| tZERO | ✔ | ||||||
| Vertalo | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| WeOwn | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| WisdomTree* | ✔ | ✔ |
*Newly added to the report
Key Takeaways
- The most common tokenized asset types are equities (23) and real estate (18).
- Tokenization of private credit and luxury goods are also popular, with 14 and 10 platforms, respectively, providing these services.
DeFi RWA Industry Players
The table provides details on a selection of 31 on-chain tokenization providers. Unlike their CeFi counterparts, DeFi RWA providers are generally more permissionless, with a majority of operations conducted on the blockchain.
| Entity | Blockchain(s) | Sector | Asset Class(es) | Founding Year | Geography/Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AmFi | Avalanche | Credit | Credit & Loans, Real Estate | 2022 | United States |
| Backed Finance | Ethereum, Gnosis | Tokenization | Credit & Loans, Equities | 2021 | Switzerland |
| Bitbond* | Arbitrum, Avalanche, Binance, Ethereum, Optimism | Tokenization | Fixed Income | 2013 | Germany |
| Bluejay Finance | Ethereum | Stablecoin Credit | Fixed Income | 2021 | Singapore |
| Canza Finance | Avalanche, Celo | Stablecoin Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | Nigeria |
| Carapace Finance | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2021 | Unknown |
| Centrifuge | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans, Real Estate | 2017 | Switzerland |
| CitaDAO | Ethereum | Tokenization | Real Estate | 2021 | Unknown |
| Clearpool | Ethereum, Polygon | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2021 | Hong Kong |
| CredeFi* | Ethereum, Binance | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | Bulgaria |
| Credix* | Solana | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2021 | Belgium |
| Dexstar | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2021 | Cayman Islands |
| DEFYCA | Avalanche | Tokenization | Credit & Loans, Fiat | 2021 | Luxembourg |
| Fabrica | Ethereum | Derivatives | Real Estate | 2019 | United States |
| Florence Finance | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | – | United Arab Emirates |
| Frigg | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2022 | Switzerland |
| Goldfinch | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | United States |
| Homecoin | Ethereum | Stablecoin | Mortgages | – | Unknown |
| LandX | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | – | Lithuania |
| Maker | Ethereum | Stablecoin Credit | Credit & Loans, Cryptocurrencies | 2015 | Denmark |
| Maple | Ethereum, Solana | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | Australia |
| Maxos | Ethereum | Stablecoin Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | United States |
| Obligate | Polygon | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2019 | Switzerland |
| Ondo Finance | Ethereum | Tokenization | Credit & Loans | 2021 | United States |
| Parcl | Solana | Derivatives | Real Estate | 2022 | British Virgin Islands |
| Polytrade Finance | Polygon | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2021 | United Arab Emirates |
| PurpleFi | – | Tokenization | Real Estate | 2022 | United Kingdom |
| Ribbon Lend | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | Singapore |
| Sapling | Polygon | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2022 | United Kingdom |
| Tangible | Polygon | Stablecoin | Luxury Goods, Precious Metals,, Real Estate | 2021 | United States |
| TrueFi | Ethereum | Credit | Credit & Loans | 2020 | United States |
Key Takeaways
- As of the end of May 2023, Credit & Loans is the most common sector for DeFi tokenization products with a total of 23 platforms supporting real-world loans.
- Ethereum is the most common blockchain among RWA DeFi applications, with 21 out of 31 platforms being run on the blockchain.
- A smaller portion of the RWA DeFi applications run on the Polygon, Solana, Avalanche, Celo, BNB Smart Chain, and Gnosis Chain blockchains.
DeFi RWA Protocols
The following table provides details on DeFi protocols that integrate real-world assets. These range from on-chain emerging markets lenders to protocols providing on-chain market participants with access to US Treasury Bills.
| Protocol | Network | Active Loans | Total Lifetime Loans | Total Value Locked (TVL) | Market Capitalization of Protocol’s Native Token | Capitalization (%) of Protocol’s Native Token |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centrifuge | Ethereum | $207,534,761 | $391,409,805 | $211,484,420 | $10,424,936 | ↓-85.99% |
| Maple | Ethereum | $132,171,450 | $1,782,522,9228 | $3,978,562 | $46,257,044 | ↑15.63% |
| Goldfinch | Ethereum | $103,754,399 | $113,029,773 | $1,171,058 | $17,678,057 | ↓-18.11% |
| Credix | Solana | $35,537,576 | $39,020,152 | $35,650,130 | N/A | N/A |
| Clearpool | Ethereum | $20,908,895 | $166,838,2190 | $24,886,602 | $10,428,906 | ↓-17.11% |
| TrueFi | Ethereum | $19,002,202 | $1,738,198,576 | $17,970,000 | $36,632,220 | ↓-25.44% |
| HomeCoin | Ethereum | $6,160,287 | $7,955,966 | $6,355,856 | N/A | N/A |
| Ribbon Lend | Ethereum | $39 | $55,647,465 | $31,960,000 | $114,308,695 | ↓-9.77% |
| Clearpool | Polygon | $0.02 | $80,674,770 | $36,786 | $10,428,906 | ↓-17.11% |
| Maple | Solana | N/A | N/A | N/A | $46,257,044 | ↑15.63% |
| Ondo Finance | Ethereum | N/A | N/A | $136,800,000 | N/A | N/A |
Key Takeaways
- There has not been much change in the amount of money loaned out in active loans between now and the past month, with the exception of Clearpool on Polygon, which has experienced a significant decrease in active loans.
- While loans remain stagnant, the market capitalization of the protocol tokens shows a notable decrease.
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