Overview of Tokenized Real World Assets (RWA)
General Information
- Market Volume: Currently, the volume of tokenized real-world assets has reached $24.03 billion, indicating a growth of 4.5% over the last 30 days. This growth may be attributed to increasing interest in asset tokenization and a rise in the number of investors interested in digital forms of assets.
- Number of Holders: The number of holders of tokenized assets has more than doubled, reaching 209,834. This indicates a growing interest and acceptance of tokenized assets as a legitimate form of investment.
Asset Classification
- Private Credit: Remains the largest category of tokenized assets with a volume of $13.9 billion. This may suggest that investors are seeking alternative ways to generate income through lending.
- U.S. Treasury Bonds: With a volume of $7.4 billion, this category of assets also demonstrates significant interest, especially among institutional investors looking for stable and reliable investments.
Leaders in Tokenized Assets
- Ethereum: With a volume of $7.54 billion, Ethereum remains the leading platform for asset tokenization due to its mature ecosystem and support for smart contracts.
- Aptos and XRP Ledger: These blockchains have shown explosive growth, increasing by 24% and 34% respectively over the month. This may be linked to their improved technology and growing opportunities for developers.
- Other Active Participants: ZKsync Era, Solana, Polygon, and Arbitrum are also actively participating in tokenization, offering various solutions for developers and investors.
Risks of Tokenization
Warnings from Moody’s
Analysts at Moody’s have expressed serious concerns regarding the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds, highlighting the following risks:
- Cascading Risks in DeFi: If tokenized Treasury bonds are used in margin trading, this could lead to cascading liquidations in the event of a sharp decline in asset prices. This would create instability in the markets and could negatively impact the entire DeFi ecosystem.
- Example with the BUIDL Fund: The tokenized fund from BlackRock, which has already begun to be used as collateral on exchanges like Deribit and Crypto.com, demonstrates how tokenization can affect traditional financial structures.
Stress Conditions in Markets
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has also noted that in conditions of market stress, tokenization could exacerbate instability. This may be due to the fact that tokenized assets can be less liquid than their traditional counterparts, leading to higher liquidity risks.
The tokenization of real-world assets on the blockchain continues to grow, attracting attention from both investors and analysts. However, it is important to consider the potential risks associated with this new technology. Investors should exercise caution and carefully assess the risks related to tokenized assets, especially in times of market instability.
