Inside 2024's RWA Revolution 📦
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Hello y'all! Happy Friday - here's something to read while Wall Street figures out how to tokenise your coffee ☕️
How 2024 became the year of RWA tokenisation
Why $3.99B in tokenised treasuries is just the beginning
What's cooking for 2025
Why regulators are suddenly crypto's biggest fans?
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Big money voted with its wallet.
BlackRock? In. Franklin? In. Ripple? All in.
2024's biggest story isn't just about memecoins or ETFs. It's about bringing the "real world" onto the blockchain. And Wall Street's leading the charge.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager with $11 trillion under management, did something that would have seemed absurd just a few years ago: they put US Treasury bills on a blockchain.
Within four months, their digital fund, BUIDL, accumulated over $500 million in assets.
Franklin Templeton followed. Then UBS.
By year's end, even Tether, the cryptocurrency industry's controversial money printer, had launched its own tokenisation platform.
This was traditional finance — the suits, the regulators, the big banks — embracing blockchain technology not for speculative trading, but for something far more profound: transforming how we own and trade every real-world asset imaginable.
As 2024 draws to a close, we're standing at the cusp of what could be the biggest transformation in asset ownership since the invention of the stock certificate.
From Manhattan air rights to nuclear fuel, if it has value, someone's figuring out how to tokenise it.
Let's unpack what happened this year, why it matters, and what's coming next. Because if you think 2024 was transformative for asset ownership, just wait until you see what's coming in 2025.
In The Numbers 🔢
$15 billion
Real World Asset (RWA) tokenisation exploded from $8 billion to over $15 billion in 2024. That's almost 100% jump in a single year.
$3.99 billion
That's the current tokenised US treasuries market, with an average yield of 4.09%.
January 2024: $700M in tokenised treasuries.
December 2024: Nearly $4B.
Why such explosive growth? Institutional FOMO.
BlackRock's entry sparked a chain reaction
Traditional banks scrambling to catch up
Regulatory clarity driving adoption
Rising interest rates making treasuries attractive
What Are We Even Talking About?
Before we dive into the deep end, let's get our bearings.
Real World Assets (RWAs) are exactly what they sound like — actual, tangible things that exist in the meat-space world, not just on a blockchain.
We're talking everything from Treasury bills to real estate, from fine art to uranium (yes, actual uranium — more on that wild story later).
Tokenisation is the process of taking these assets and creating digital tokens that represent ownership of them on a blockchain.
Think of it as converting the deed to your house into a million digital pieces that can be bought and sold instantly.
But why would anyone want to do this? That’s what you wanna know.
The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
The traditional asset world has a problem: it's stuck in the past.
Take real estate.
Want to sell a portion of your building? Good luck with that paperwork.
Want to trade corporate bonds after hours?
Sorry, market's closed.
Want to invest in a piece of fine art? Hope you've got a few million lying around.
Tokenisation changes all that for assets.
Divisible (own 1% of a Picasso)
Liquid (trade 24/7)
Programmable (automated dividends anyone?)
Accessible (invest with $100 instead of $100,000)
This isn't just theory. In 2024, we saw it in action.
The Economics of Tokenisation: Follow the Money
While the technology behind tokenisation captures headlines, the real revolution lies in the numbers.
By 2030, full-scale RWA tokenisation could generate annual economic savings of $2.4 trillion globally.
Let's break down where these savings come from.
The Infrastructure Build-Out
While everyone was watching the billions flow into tokenised Treasuries, something equally important was happening behind the scenes: the plumbing of the future financial system was being built.
Chainlink integrating with Coinbase's Project Diamond
Swift partnering with UBS for tokenised fund settlement
BNB Chain launching no-code tokenisation tools
German fintech 21X securing the EU's first tokenisation license
Tether unveiling Hadron, its tokenisation platform
Ripple and Archax just launched the first tokenised money market fund on XRP Ledger
DNA Holdings opened a desk for tokenised startup equity
Venture firm Lazard partnered with Bitfinex Securities for tokenised funds
These might sound like boring technical developments, but they're the rails on which the trillion-dollar tokenisation train will run.
The Wild World of What's Being Tokenised
In 2024, if you could own it, someone probably tried to tokenise it.
Take Uranium.io, launched on Tezos blockchain with backing from major uranium producer Cameco.
It's the world's first tokenised uranium marketplace, bringing nuclear fuel trading to the masses (what could possibly go wrong?).
Or consider SkyTrade, which tokenised $35 million worth of air rights above Manhattan.
They're selling tokens representing the actual air above buildings. Even coffee got the tokenisation treatment.
Agridex settled the first-ever tokenised coffee trade on Solana, slashing transaction fees from 7% to 0.5% and settlement times from weeks to instant.
The Regulatory Tide Turns
The most significant shift in 2024 was regulatory: governments stopped fighting tokenisation and started embracing it.
Hong Kong launching subsidies for tokenised bond issuance
Germany granting its first EU-compliant tokenisation license
The US Treasury acknowledging stablecoins' positive impact on T-bill demand
El Salvador enabling tokenised T-bill trading through Bitfinex Securities
This regulatory clarity gives institutions the confidence to enter the space. And enter they did.
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🎙 Block That Quote
US Treasury Department's Q4 2024 Report
"Tokenisation can potentially improve liquidity in the trading of Treasuries by reducing operational and settlement frictions. Immutable ledgers could allow for greater transparency in Treasury market operations, reducing opacity, and providing regulators, issuers, and investors with more real-time insight into trading activities."
The government wants in on Web3. They have good reasons.
Enhanced operational efficiency
Reduced settlement friction
Real-time market insights
Better collateral management
And stablecoins are already proving the point. With $211B in total market cap, they're driving demand for T-bills.
The Major Players of 2024?
While Wall Street made headlines, several key players quietly revolutionised asset tokenisation this year.
Look at the ecosystem.
2025: What are we looking at?
So what's next? Several trends seem poised to define 2025.
Institutional Adoption Goes Mainstream
Beyond just testing the waters, 2025 looks set to bring full-scale institutional deployment.
Major banks are preparing their own tokenisation platforms, following JPMorgan's lead with its programmable deposit solution.
Watch for at least five global banks to launch proprietary tokenisation services, particularly in private markets where the efficiency gains are most dramatic.
New Asset Classes Take Center Stage
While Treasuries dominated 2024's narrative, 2025 will likely see tokenisation spread into more complex assets.
Private credit markets, where tokenisation could unlock over $200 billion in previously illiquid assets
Infrastructure projects, with several governments exploring tokenised infrastructure bonds
Intellectual property rights, particularly in the entertainment and biotech sectors
Carbon credits, as climate markets seek better tracking and trading mechanisms
Retail Access Democratises
The infrastructure built in 2024 will enable more retail-focused products in 2025.
"Tokenisation-as-a-Service" platforms making it easier for smaller issuers
Mobile apps offering fractional ownership of premium real estate
Integration with traditional brokerages for seamless token trading
Lower minimum investment thresholds across all asset classes
Cross-Chain Integration Accelerates
Interoperability becomes crucial as the ecosystem matures.
Major protocols will launch cross-chain bridges specifically for tokenised assets
Standards will emerge for moving RWAs between different blockchains
Institutional-grade security solutions for cross-chain transactions
Integration of traditional finance settlement systems with multiple blockchains
Regulatory Frameworks Solidify
2025 could be the year of regulatory clarity.
The EU's DLT Pilot Regime will expand to include more asset types
Asian financial hubs will introduce comprehensive tokenisation frameworks
The US SEC might provide clear guidance on tokenised securities
Global coordination on tokenisation standards could begin
Real Estate Tokenisation Boom
Property markets could see particular disruption.
Major REITs exploring tokenisation of their portfolios
New platforms enabling fractional ownership of commercial properties
Integration with property management and rental income distribution
Cross-border real estate investment becoming more accessible
Industry projections for tokenisation by 2030 range wildly
Boston Consulting Group: $2 trillion
Standard Chartered: $30 trillion
McKinsey: $4 trillion
Various others: $10-16 trillion
The exact number matters less than the direction.
We're witnessing a fundamental shift in how assets are owned, traded, and valued.
Token Dispatch View 🔍
As we close out 2024, transformation has become undeniable - tokenisation has evolved beyond crypto jargon into a serious Wall Street priority.
The US Treasury's endorsement marked a watershed moment, opening the floodgates for traditional institutions to embrace blockchain technology.
Yet current market projections might be thinking too small.
While estimates for 2030 range from Boston Consulting Group's modest $2 trillion to ambitious forecasts of $30 trillion, these numbers could underestimate the scale of change ahead.
This transformation transcends the mere digitisation of existing assets. We're witnessing an expansion of what constitutes ownership itself.
Manhattan's air rights trade as tokens. Coffee shipments settle instantly on Solana. Uranium changes hands in fractional shares.
Each innovation pushes the boundaries of what we consider an asset.
This change is not without hurdles.
Technical scalability needs work. Regulatory frameworks stay fragmented. Market education lags. Infrastructure requires development. Questions about interoperability, standards, and governance demand answers.
Still, 2024 marked an irreversible shift.
The US Treasury's backing, BlackRock's BUIDL success, and Franklin Templeton's digital push have fundamentally altered the landscape.
Wall Street has moved from curiosity to conviction.
For 2025, three trends appear inevitable.
Innovation will accelerate
Traditional finance will drive adoption
The scope of tokenisation will expand
Focus now is not on if this transformation will happen, but on who will lead it.
While 2024 brought tokenisation mainstream, 2025 could reshape our entire conception of value.
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