Tokenization for real-world assets (RWA) is gaining significant momentum, with industry projections indicating it will reach a value of around $50 billion this year.
Initially, RWA tokenization represents real-world assets, such as bonds, real estate or private credit, as digital tokens on a blockchain, allowing these traditionally illiquid assets to be traded and managed more efficiently.
Essentially, tokenization allows traditional financial institutions to fractionate ownership, automate compliance, and access markets 24 hours a day.
“RWA tokenization has made significant progress recently. The real question for 2025: how many assets will be integrated into this system, and how quickly will global adoption occur?” Moataz Elsayed, co-founder of non-custodial wallet Okse, told us Declutter.
The total value captured in tokenized assets reached over $176 billion in 2024, up 32% year to date, while non-stablecoin assets grew by 53%, in 2024 report of the Tokenized Asset Coalition (TAC) shows.
BlackRock is paving the way
RWA tokenization is “transforming finance,” with BlackRock “driving adoption” through stablecoins and other authorized services, Neal Wen, head of global business development at Kronos Research, told me. Declutter.
“Real estate, government bonds and other assets become liquid on the blockchain, unlocking more than $18 billion in market value with significant growth potential ahead.”
BlackRock launched its tokenized fund in March last year, followed by other institutions such as Franklin Templeton launching on Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer-2 network.
Large institutions such as McKinsey claim This tokenization offers financial institutions a “strategic advantage” and warns them against “pessimistic and optimistic scenarios” that could value the sector between $1 trillion and $4 trillion by 2030.
Major financial institutions entering the space were further evidence of the industry’s growth. Standard chartered projected $30 trillion in tokenized assets by 2034, while Boston Consulting Group estimated $16 trillion in tokenized illiquid assets by 2030.
Decentralized credit marketplace that Clearpool shares with Declutter that Ozean, the RWA-focused protocol it is building, has over 368,000 unique accounts on board for its Poseidon testnet.
“While tokenized treasuries and stablecoins currently dominate RWA use cases, the future promises growing traction in real estate, private credit and other asset classes such as commodities,” Clearpool CEO and co-founder Jakob Kronbichler told us. Declutter in an interview.
Clearpool claimed its Q4 report said it had processed a total of more than $650 million in loans originating for the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, delivering a 51% increase in total value.
“BlackRock’s credibility in the RWA movement paves the way for other institutions to follow suit,” Kronbichler said. Declutter.
Private lending has proven particularly popular, with Clearpool Prime having collected $124 million in loans since its launch in December 2023.
Innovations and shifts
The increase reflects a broader trend of traditional financial institutions warming up to tokenized markets research of the DeFi liquidity protocol Tren Finance.
Executives from broader sectors are also paying attention. About 86% of Fortune 500 executives now see the benefits of tokenization, while 35% are already preparing tokenization projects, the TAC report shows.
“Tokenization offers numerous benefits and solves a variety of problems in TradFi,” Kronbichler explains, citing use cases for liquidity, fractional ownership, automation, transparency and programmability.
Innovation in government bonds has not slowed down either. Platforms are introducing features that institutional investors have longed for, such as 24-hour redemptions and peer-to-peer transfers, making blockchain-based financing look increasingly attractive to the draw.
Kronbichler also points to recent political shifts in the US that he recognizes as catalysts that could push the traditional financial sector “to engage with RWAs.” In December last year, newly elected President Donald Trump arrived named Paul Atkins to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kronbichler noted that this appointment is crucial because Atkins “brings expertise that could advance regulatory transparency and accelerate institutional adoption.”
Atkins is a member of the advisory board of Securitizea Clearpool partner specialized in tokenization and working with BlackRock.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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