RWA Market Semi-Annual Report: Scale Increased by 48%, New Challenges Highlighted

In the first half of 2025, the tokenization market for real-world assets (RWA) experienced explosive growth. As of June 6, the total market capitalization of the global RWA market reached $23.39 billion (excluding stablecoins), a substantial increase of 48.9% compared to the beginning of the year. Private credit and U.S. Treasury bonds became the absolute mainstays of the market, collectively accounting for nearly 90% of the share.

However, behind this impressive report card, there are also some deep-seated issues. Factors such as high concentration of asset classes, limited liquidity, insufficient transparency, and a low correlation with the native crypto ecosystem mean that RWA still has a way to go before becoming a truly "mainstream track."

Private Credit and US Treasury Dominating the Market

Private credit has become the most popular asset class in the RWA market, with a total scale of $13.5 billion, accounting for approximately 57.7%. Among them, a blockchain fintech service platform ranks first with an active loan amount of $10.19 billion, primarily offering Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) services.

US Treasury bonds are the second largest asset class in the RWA market share. This type of RWA converts dollar-denominated assets such as traditional US Treasury bonds, cash, and repurchase agreements into digital tokens using blockchain technology. Currently, the largest issuance of US Treasury bond RWAs in the market is approximately $2.9 billion.

In addition, commodities are the third-ranked RWA asset class, primarily consisting of tokenized gold, with a total market capitalization of approximately $1.51 billion.

The Landscape of Public Chains is Changing

In terms of public chain comparison, Ethereum remains the most favored blockchain network for RWA assets, with a market capitalization share of 55% totaling approximately $7.4 billion. However, some emerging public chains are also making their mark in the RWA market.

A certain Layer 2 network has become the second highest-ranking RWA public chain with an asset issuance of $2.25 billion. This is mainly due to an asset management company that has introduced web3 technology, allowing institutions to initiate investment opportunities on its application.

Another established public chain is also performing well in the RWA market, with the current issuance of RWA assets on this network at approximately $498 million, ranking third. This is primarily attributed to a large asset management company issuing a monetized fund based on U.S. Treasury bonds on this network.

Challenges Facing the RWA Market

Despite the impressive data, the RWA market still faces some potential challenges:

1. Asset class concentration: Mainly concentrated in private credit and US Treasury bonds, with some projects lacking data transparency and having limited liquidity.

2. Competitive Pressure: Yield-bearing stablecoins backed by U.S. Treasury bonds provide a similar yield effect, creating competition for Treasury-based RWA products.

3. Single asset category: The proportion of products such as commodities, stocks, and funds is still relatively low, mainly constrained by challenges in physical storage, legal compliance, costs, and other aspects.

4. Limited scale: The total size of the RWA market is only $23.3 billion, far lower than the stablecoin market at $236 billion, and significantly below the market expectation of a trillion scale.

5. High participation threshold: Currently, the RWA market is mainly dominated by institutions and large players, making it difficult for ordinary investors to participate.

Overall, although the RWA market achieved significant growth in the first half of 2025, how to break through the current bottleneck and achieve a qualitative change in terms of transparency, liquidity, and ecological integration will be key factors determining its future development.