In mid -2022, the cryptom markets were confronted with a brutal settlement. More than $ 2 trillion in market capitalization evaporated within a few months. The collapse of Terra, followed by pedaling failures such as Celsius, Voyager and Three Arrows Capital, exposed a fragile basis under many of the so -called decentralized financial ecosystem.
It was not just a liquidity crunch. It was a structural wake-up call. The industry had become too dependent on self-referential assets and circular yield algorithms promise stability without content, and protocols stacked risk without grounding in real economic value.
This moment marked a turning point, not only for us, but also for industry as a whole. It became clear that the next wave of financial infrastructure could not be built on synthetic abstractions or hype -cycles.
Defi needed a stronger basis if it once fulfilled its promise of open access, programmable assets and global financial inclusion.
The case for real value
Here is a sobering fact: the entire crypto market, excluding Bitcoin, is worth less than $ 1.6 trillion. This includes each token, stablecoin, meme coin and layer 1 protocol combined.
To put that in perspective, it is less than the market capitalization of Apple or Microsoft alone. For all cultural and technical breakthroughs that Crypto has delivered, we are still hardly a blip on the radar of global capital markets in economic terms.
Compare that now with the value of Real-World financial assets. Equits, bonds, real estate and sovereign treasuries are good for more than $ 600 trillion. That is where the capital lives.
That is the swimming pool that we have to connect if Defi is going to evolve past a walled garden of speculation and to a real financial backbone. RWA unlocking traditionally illiquid assets in liquid, tradable value in Defi, opening new credit markets and increasing the TVL potential.
To be honest, this is not a new insight. The industry has made meaningful progress to bring the real-world value on-chain. We have seen platforms such as Robinhood and Kraken that take the first steps in the direction of bridging retail investors with tokenized Equity -exposure.
Breaking: Wall Street is officially Onchain.
Xstocks are now live on Kraken ❎60 US Equits tokenized and tradable 24/5. More soon.
We are not waiting for the future. We build it.👇https: //t.co/iku44ziWzn
Not available in the US or for us people. Geo… pic.twitter.com/fjosxdj9se
– Kraken (@krakenfx) 30 June 2025
Tokenized shares on decentralized apps
Solana and other ecosystems have actively experimented with tokenized shares on decentralized apps. Even traditional settings start to baptize their toes in the water. Circle’s IPO was a turning point and Stablecoins now represent one of the few crypto-native tools that actually use traditional finances.
One of the most important building blocks in this effort was the framework of Reserve (Por) of Chainlink, which brought transparency and auditability to Tokenized Activa.
#Chainlink proof or reserve is not just for #defi.
Every digital asset exchange can use Chainlink Por to verify collateral off-chain and on-chain, which brings improved transparency for the wider #crypto ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/lhirb0dhnp
– Chainlink (@Chainlink) November 7, 2022
Without verifiable, real-time data to confirm that assets are really made collateral, tokenization of RWA and their decentralization via secondary market defit applications simply cannot be placed in a safe manner, because it exposes the ecosystem to the risk of interrogation.
Chainlink has made it possible to imagine a world where tokens for asset references can actually be familiar with chains, protocols and platforms.
And yet, even with all this momentum, we hardly scratched the surface.
Regulation evolves, as well as tokens
Historically, most tokenized assets ecosystems have been weighed by legacy architecture and regulatory obstacles that prevent real compatibility with the core principle of decentralized financing. Security -making offering (STOs) has inherent securities -regulating restrictions.
Even when offered through decentralized applications, they remain under the control of the issuer and are not fully permissionless. Other offers are mainly based on synthetic exposure to RWA value by pricing food to Tokenization, which may have to deal with regulatory uncertainty and are often incompatible with permissionless Dapps. That finally starts to change.
Catch the recording of Defi Technologies President & @Valourfunds CGO @forson on @Maximgrp’s 2025 Virtual Tech Conference.
He breaks our company, our growth strategy and how we bridge Tradeefi and Defi. $ DEPT $ defi.ne pic.twitter.com/Dhy4trve5w
– Defi Technologies (@Defitechglobal) 17 June 2025
Frameworks are catching up innovation in the field of regulatory side. In Europe, Mica (markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) offers a clear classification for different types of crypto assets, including asset-referred tokens (doctor), which must be fully supported and transparent under strict reserve tiles.
More about Defi: Defi yield was broken – why Rwas could be the bridge to generate real yield in Crypto
This legal clarity helps institutions to start with Tokenized financing in a conforming way. Other areas of law also move quickly. Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) has proposed an ARVA-Token Standard that is aimed at creating a regulated path for tokens referred by assets to thrive.
Stabilecoin legislation
In the United States, the Genius Act pushes the stablecoin legislation forward, which brings the legal impetus to the backbone of the current financial stack of crypto.
(@Realdonaldtrump – Truth Social Post)
(Donald J. Trump – July 15, 2025, 11:29 am et)Nice crypto week! The house will soon vote for a huge account to make America the undisputed, number one leader in digital assets – nobody does better! The Genius Act will put … pic.twitter.com/57kwxsade4
– Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 Truth Posts (@truthtrumpposts) July 15, 2025
At the same time, the market signals strong demand. Tokenized shares launched on Solana and Robinhood have generated considerable attention, and exchanges in both crypto and traditional finances are now racing in support of trade in practice. y
This wave of activity reflects a broader shift: from synthetic exposure to substantiated value. Asset-referred tokens that pop up as a new class of tokens that combines verifiable real-world collateral with the composition and decentralization of crypto. These are not synthetic mirrors.
They are fundamental primitives that are designed to work within Defi, fully supported by real assets, confirmed in real time and deployable in all protocols and ecosystems.
If Defi even starts absorbing one percent of the traditional financial system, this is ahead of the path. Tokens that are familiar, compiled and based on economic reality.
