4E Labs|Unlocking a New World of Real-World Assets: Understanding the RWA Wave and the Opportunity for Ordinary People in One Article

This article is from the post and does not represent the views of ChainCatcher, nor does it constitute any investment advice.

Author: X MereIn

the wave of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, real world assets (RWA) is gradually entering the public eye as a bridge linking traditional finance and the digital economy. In 2025, with the issuance of the "Digital Asset Development Policy Statement 2.0" by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, real estate will be officially included in the category of digital assets, and the tokenization of real assets will usher in a historic policy dividend. High-quality assets that traditionally belong to large funds and large institutions are now split, digitized and managed by smart contracts through blockchain technology, and ordinary investors can also participate in the investment of these "high-quality assets" with a very low threshold.

This article will comprehensively interpret the connotation, market development, and key driving forces of RWA, combined with detailed cases, and deeply analyze how ordinary investors can seize this wave and enter a new era of assets shared by all.

1. Interpretation of the concept of RWA and the background of the

timesWhat is the tokenization of real assets?

Tokenization of real assets refers to the use of blockchain technology to digitize physical assets and financial assets (such as real estate, bonds, energy projects, agriculture, artworks, etc.) in the real world to generate corresponding tokens. These tokens not only represent the ownership of the asset, but also reflect the corresponding right to income. Through smart contracts, asset management, income distribution, and transaction processes are automatically executed to ensure security and transparency.

This technology breaks the bottleneck of high investment threshold, poor liquidity and cross-border restrictions of traditional assets, and realizes the fragmentation and efficient circulation of assets.

1. June 2025, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued the Policy Statement on Digital Asset Development 2.0, which for the first time explicitly included real estate and other physical assets in the scope of tokenized assets. Greenland Group announced in just one week that its HK$2.9 billion office building in Causeway Bay was split into 1 million NFT property certificates, reducing the minimum investment threshold from the traditional HK$10 million to HK$1,000, realizing asset on-chain and real-time confirmation, and increasing asset liquidity by 300%.
2. Mature technology With blockchain as the core, combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and cross-chain technology, it solves the key problems of asset authenticity verification, real-time data monitoring and automatic income settlement. Greenland Jinchuang deployed IoT equipment to monitor the occupancy rate of health care apartments in real time, shortening the traditional 6-month due diligence cycle to 17 days.
3. Rapid expansion of market size According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the global RWA market size will be less than $10 billion in 2023 and will exceed $50 billion by 2025, and the growth rate is amazing. The RWA market is forecast to reach US$16 trillion by 2030, three times the global gold value.
4. The change in investor structure has shifted from institutional-led to institutional-retail parallelism. Traditional financial giants such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have actively deployed RWA and launched low-threshold funds to attract ordinary investors. Powered by blockchain technology, global investors can easily participate in cross-border assets.

2. RWA's three core growth engines: asset classes and investment opportunitiesPrivate

credit is the largest driver of RWA, accounting for 58% of the RWA market by 2025. Traditional private credit is illiquid, has a long investment cycle, and has a very high threshold. The RWA model splits private credit assets into tradable tokens, allowing investors to buy and sell at any time, greatly improving liquidity.

• Yield: Generally annualized 5%-12%, and the income distribution is transparent, and the risk is managed in a hierarchical manner.
• Representative Platforms:
  - Credix: Tokenizes loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America, supports USD stablecoin investment, and investors can receive daily dividends.
  - Maple Finance, Goldfinch: Supporting diversification of private credit assets in the U.S. and global markets, with sophisticated risk assessment and credit management mechanisms.

2. Tokenization of real estate: In the era of inclusive chartering,

real estate has long been the first choice for high-net-worth individuals to invest, but it has a high capital threshold and a long transaction cycle. With the empowerment of RWA, real estate rights are split into thousands of small tokens, and ordinary people can participate in them with hundreds to thousands of yuan.

• Tiered investment: Greenland Jinchuang Health Care Apartment Project implements a hierarchical structure, with an annualized return of 5.8% on the priority layer, and the equity layer and risk layer meet different risk preferences.
• Asset liquidity: Compared with traditional REITs, the liquidity of tokenized assets is increased by three times, and rental income is distributed in real time through smart contracts.
• Benchmark Cases:
  - Greenland Jinchuang Causeway Bay Office Building: A total value of HK$2.9 billion, splitting 1 million NFTs, with a minimum investment of HK$1,000.
  - DL Holdings Central Building: Tokenisation of equity and distribution of HK$60 million worth of digital assets to shareholders.
  - Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory: $5 billion in assets split into 100 million tokens, with a minimum subscription of only $50 and dividends based on production line revenue.

3. Tokenization of new energy assets: "Green mining machines" with daily income

As a new hot spot for sustainable investment, the income rights of energy assets such as photovoltaic power stations and charging piles are split into tokens and become stable cash flow assets.

• Yield: 6.8%-8% annualized, daily settlement income.
• Technical support: IoT devices upload power generation data in real time, and smart contracts on the chain automatically calculate and distribute income every day to ensure the authenticity of data and accurate income.

3. How can ordinary investors enter the RWA market? Practical Guide:

Investors

should give priority to formally licensed trading platforms to ensure asset safety and compliance. The following are the mainstream options:

• Hong Kong DigiFT Exchange: Licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to support multi-currency digital asset and RWA trading.
• Singapore ADDX: MAS regulated, focusing on digital assets and private equity fund tokenization.
• BlackRock BUIDL Fund: A RWA fund launched by the world's leading asset management institution with a very low threshold.
• Credix, RealT, Goldfinch: International platforms focused on private credit and real estate tokenization.

Funds and wallet preparation

• Download and install digital wallets that support mainstream public chains (such as Ethereum, Solana, etc.), commonly used MetaMask and Trust Wallet.
• Prepare fiat currencies or stablecoins (USDC, USDT) and deposit them to your wallet or trading account through compliant channels.

Investment Process

1. Diligence: Read the project white paper carefully, and pay attention to the underlying ownership of assets, income model, and risk disclosure.
2. Identity authentication: Complete KYC verification on the platform to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
3. Subscribe tokens: Select the investment amount, complete the payment, and the tokens will be automatically allocated to the account.
4. Holding income: The income is distributed in real time through smart contracts, and investors can view the asset value and income.
5. Secondary trading: flexible trading according to market conditions to improve capital liquidity.
6. Risk diversification: It is recommended to allocate a variety of assets, such as real estate, new energy, private credit, etc.

Investor Type

Matching

Fourth, in-depth case analysis of

Greenland Jinchuang Causeway Bay office project

Greenland Group's office assets in the core business district of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong have been split into 1 million NFT property certificates, with a minimum investment of only HK$1,000. The project realizes asset confirmation and automatic distribution of rental income through blockchain technology, which greatly improves asset liquidity. According to a report by Chain Catcher in 2025, the project is 300% more liquid than traditional REITs, and is supported by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "Ensemble Sandbox" compliance test.

Investors can choose different levels to participate according to their risk appetite, with the preferred layer enjoying an annualized fixed income of about 5.8%, while the equity layer and risk layer are linked to asset appreciation and operational risk, which is suitable for investors with higher risk tolerance. The entire asset management and income distribution is automatically executed by smart contracts, ensuring transparency and immutability.

In addition, Greenland Jinchuang deploys IoT devices to monitor the operation status of office buildings and rent collection in real time, so that investors can check the health of assets at any time, significantly shorten the traditional asset management cycle, and improve asset security.

BlackRock BUIDL Fund:

one of the world's largest asset managers, BlackRock launched the BUIDL Fund to focus on the tokenization of U.S. Treasury bonds. The fund size has exceeded US$5.2 billion, and the minimum investment threshold for ordinary investors is only US$1, realizing the universalization of institutional-grade assets.

Investors hold on-chain tokens through the fund, enjoy the same interest income as traditional bonds, and can trade at any time in the on-chain secondary market, which is open 24 hours a day. This model has greatly improved the liquidity and market participation of US Treasury bonds, and has become an innovative channel for retail investors to allocate stable assets.

GCL-ET's

82MW distributed PV power plant is split into 100,000 tokens, each representing a fixed proportion of power generation revenue rights, with an annualized yield of between 6.8% and 8%. IoT devices are used to collect power generation data in real time, and the on-chain smart contract automatically calculates and distributes the revenue every day to ensure the authenticity of the data and the accuracy of the income.

The project not only attracted a large number of insurance funds and hedge funds, but also provided a stable green income channel for retail investors. Ant Xinneng, a joint venture between Ant Digital and AntChain, plans to promote this model nationwide, combine AI to optimize energy management, and promote the rapid development of the green finance ecosystem.

5. RWA Completely Reconstructs Investment Logic: Thresholds, Liquidity, and Global Interconnection

Lower the Threshold, Realizing the Possibility of "Everybody's Rich"

Traditionally, investing in high-end commercial real estate, high-quality bonds, or large-scale new energy projects often requires millions or even tens of millions of dollars of capital. RWA splits these assets into hundreds of thousands to millions of shares, with a single amount as low as hundreds of dollars or even tens of dollars, which greatly lowers the threshold for participation and gives ordinary investors the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of high-quality assets that were previously limited to institutions.

Improve liquidity, flexible and efficient asset realizationThrough

smart contracts and on-chain secondary markets, RWA assets can be bought and sold freely around the clock. Taking Greenland Jinchuang Project as an example, the liquidity of tokens has increased by 300% compared with traditional REITs, and the capital turnover efficiency has increased by more than 30%. This liquidity not only improves the investment experience, but also makes asset valuations more market-oriented and dynamic.

Globally interconnected, cross-border investment is no longer

complicatedRWA breaks down the geographical barriers in traditional investment. Hong Kong uses offshore renminbi (CNH) to be linked to RWA assets to promote the internationalisation of RMB. U.S. investors can directly invest in SME loans in Latin America through the Credix platform, and Chinese investors can participate in global new energy projects through the DigiFT platform. Multi-currency and multi-regional investment opportunities are gradually becoming a reality, building a "highway" for global capital flows.

6. Risk Warning and Compliance Guidelines

for InvestorsDespite the many innovations and conveniences brought by RWA, investors still need to pay close attention to risk management:

• Compliance platform selection: Be sure to choose a licensed exchange or fund that has been approved by the regulator to avoid "pseudo RWA" scams.
• Underlying asset due diligence: verify the authenticity and completeness of asset ownership certificates, the credibility of custodian institutions, and third-party audit reports.
• Diversification strategy: Avoid concentrating funds on a single project or asset class and balance returns and risks.
• Technical security assurance: Pay attention to the audit results of smart contracts to prevent technical vulnerabilities and security risks.
• Redemption and lock-up period: Clarify the lock-up period and redemption mechanism of investment products, and reasonably arrange liquidity needs.

7. Future Prospects: Technology and Regulatory Two-Wheel Drive, RWA Towards ScaleIn

July 2025, Shenzhen held the first RWA Standards Seminar to promote the formulation of technical and compliance standards covering asset on-chain, life cycle management, and transaction supervision. The Technical Specification for Physical Asset Tokenization, jointly formulated by GCL-ET and AntChain, has become the industry's first technical standard, laying the foundation for the safe and standardized development of the industry.

In the future, blockchain technology will be deeply integrated with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence to promote real-time and credible asset data, intelligent credit rating, and more accurate risk management. In addition, regulators in major economies around the world are actively promoting a "sandbox" regulatory mechanism to provide a testing environment and compliance support for innovative RWA projects.

With the improvement of infrastructure, the entry threshold for ordinary investors will be lower, the asset classes will be richer, and the market activity will continue to rise. The era of investment for all is coming.

8. Conclusion:

Real Asset Tokenization (RWA) is not only a product of technological innovation, but also a major change in the way global wealth is distributed. Through digitalization and smart contracts, it enables high-quality assets to be fragmented, compliant, and globalized, allowing ordinary investors to participate in a once-unreachable asset feast.

When you buy an equity interest in a Hong Kong office building with a few hundred dollars, invest a few dozen dollars in a Latin American corporate loan, and hold a digital token representing the income of a photovoltaic power plant, RWA brings not only wealth growth, but also financial fairness and transparency.

This is a wealth revolution led by the crypto industry, the future is here, are you ready?