RWA Track Development Accelerates: From New Public Chains to Asset Tokenization Competition, Construction Fund Scale Exceeds $1 Billion

RWA is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing tracks in Web3 development. As of March 25, the total on-chain value of real world assets (RWA) has reached $19.53 billion, with a growth of 19.58% over the past 30 days. Compared to $9.407 billion during the same period last year, the on-chain value of the RWA market has achieved a year-on-year growth of 108%. In terms of the total value of RWA on blockchain networks, Ethereum leads with a total value of $5.01 billion, followed by ZKsync Era ($672 million) and Algorand ($473 million).

Recently, the RWA sector has seen several key developments, covering areas such as public chain innovation, tokenization competition, mortgage-backed securities market, and real estate tokenization. This article will briefly summarize and introduce these developments.

Ethena and Securitize Launch New Public Chain Converge, Scheduled for Q2 Release

Converge is a network specifically designed for traditional finance and digital dollar settlements. Its vision is to provide the first settlement layer designed for the integration of TradFi and DeFi, centered around USDe and USDtb, and secured by ENA.

The blockchain is considered to have two core application scenarios:

1. Settlement for permissionless spot and leveraged DeFi speculation;
2. Storage and settlement of stablecoins and tokenized assets.

Securitize will deploy its core future tokenization asset issuance layer on Converge. This will go beyond tokenized government bond products and funds, covering securities forms of all asset classes. Ethena will launch its core products USDe, USDtb, and iUSDe, and issue them natively.

Currently, five protocols have committed to building and distributing institutional-grade DeFi products on Converge, including Aave Labs' Horizon, Pendle Institutional, Morpho Labs, Maple Finance, and Syrup, as well as EtherealDEX.

The Sky $1 Billion Asset Tokenization Contest Results Announced, Three Institutions Win

On March 18, a certain asset management company, in collaboration with Securitize, Superstate, and Centrifuge, had their tokenization government bond product selected as the winner of the Spark Tokenization Grand Prix. The event aims to bring up to $1 billion in tokenized assets into the Spark liquidity layer.

The jury selected three winners from 39 applications: BUIDL, USTB, and JTRSY. They will receive funding of $500 million, $300 million, and $200 million respectively.

Sky's plan aims to diversify Spark's investment portfolio and accelerate the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Once approved by Sky governance, these assets will be included as collateral for Sky's native stablecoin USDS and yield-bearing stablecoin sUSDS.

DigiFT Launches Two On-Chain Tokenization Index Funds Covering AI Leading Stocks and Crypto Assets

On March 25, Singapore licensed crypto exchange DigiFT announced the launch of an index fund that will fully tokenize fund shares and their underlying stock assets, enabling on-chain trading, open to qualified and institutional investors.

The first batch of products includes:

• AI Stock Index Fund (tracking multiple tech giants).
• Web3 Index Fund (covering crypto assets such as BTC, ETH, SOL).

They are managed by Hash Global, and the fund operates based on smart contracts, supporting USDT and USDC for subscription and redemption, without the need for a bank account, providing real-time on-chain transparency and a 24/7 settlement cycle.

On February 19, DigiFT announced that it would provide a tokenized version of a $6.3 billion private credit fund for a certain asset management company. This product allows institutional investors to purchase tokenized fund shares using USD, USDC, or USDT.

Figure Promotes On-Chain Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Market

Figure Technology Solutions currently occupies nearly 80% of the tokenization private credit market and is innovating the mortgage-backed securities capital market through blockchain technology. Several major financial institutions are adopting Figure's DART electronic lien registration system to advance their application in the Figure Connect loan market, which is set to launch in June 2024.

The loan market automates loans on the Provenance blockchain, allowing homeowners to receive Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) approvals within minutes and access funds within days, while eliminating manual review processes.

Figure formed a joint venture with Sixth Street in February and secured a $200 million equity commitment to establish a Figure loan tokenization mechanism and create a liquid market.

Republic and Hamilton Lane Launch Tokenized Private Infrastructure Fund, Specifically for Retail Investors

Republic announced a partnership with Hamilton Lane to launch a tokenized private equity infrastructure fund aimed at retail investors, with a minimum investment threshold of just $500.

Hamilton Lane Private Infrastructure Fund (HLPIF) is the first "perpetual" tokenized infrastructure fund in the United States open to non-accredited investors. This registered investment company will acquire direct positions and secondary interests, covering infrastructure assets such as data centers (serving AI companies), energy pipelines, and transportation hubs. Although fund shares typically have low liquidity, the company anticipates offering options for quarterly sales.

Dubai Launches Real Estate Tokenization Pilot, Targeting $16 Billion by 2033

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) has launched the pilot phase of the "Real Estate Tokenization Project", becoming the first registration authority in the Middle East to implement blockchain-based real estate property tokenization.

The project is part of Dubai's "2033 Real Estate Industry Strategy" and the Real Estate Innovation Scheme (REES), jointly implemented by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) through SandBox Real Estate. The project is expected to exceed a market value of $16 billion by 2033, accounting for 7% of the total real estate transaction value in Dubai.

A certain asset management company doubles down on the RWA track, launching its tokenized money market fund's "OnChain" stock category.

According to a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 21, an asset management company has applied to register the "OnChain" stock class for its tokenized U.S. dollar money market fund, which was launched at the end of last year and holds cash and U.S. Treasury securities. According to the relevant document information, the "OnChain" class of the fund currently uses the Ethereum network and may expand to other blockchains in the future. This registration is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to take effect on May 30.

A certain asset management company's BUIDL fund has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management and has expanded to Solana.

On March 14, a BUIDL fund from an asset management company surpassed $1 billion in assets under management, becoming the first institutional-grade on-chain fund to reach this milestone. BUIDL is backed by short-term government bonds and offers daily returns to qualified investors, similar to an on-chain stablecoin.

Since its launch in March 2024, BUIDL has become the largest on-chain fund in the world, accounting for about a quarter of the entire $4.2 billion on-chain national bond market. BUIDL operates on the Ethereum mainnet and expands to multiple public chains, supporting cross-chain Wormhole bridging. The custodians include several well-known institutions, with funds settled by BNY Mellon.

On March 25th, the asset management company announced the expansion of BUIDL to Solana. In addition to continuously expanding its BUIDL business, this asset management company is also increasingly involved in the cryptocurrency market.

Conclusion

Currently, a certain asset management company's BUIDL fund has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management, becoming a landmark event in the RWA sector recently. From public chain construction, tokenization of funds, to innovations in the real estate and credit markets, as well as the implementation of national projects in places like Dubai, RWA is becoming one of the hottest fields in the crypto industry. With institutional funds continuously flowing in and the improvement of infrastructure, RWA is expected to further expand its influence in the crypto market and even the global financial system in the future, making its subsequent direction and dynamics worth looking forward to.