TLDR Tech / Crypto
The RWA Investor's Handbook For Normies
The RWA market reached $31B in distributed asset value across 900K+ holders as of June, with tokenized US Treasuries ($14.9B) as the most liquid segment, though tokens still trade at wider spreads than off-chain equivalents. TradFi diligence requires verifying bankruptcy-remote legal wrappers, custody quality (BlackRock's BUIDL holds $2.4B+ under institutional-grade custody), and redemption mechanics, where private credit locks capital for 12-36 months and real estate tokens often have no secondary market. Oracle reliability is a structural risk for illiquid assets like private credit and real estate, only ~10% of RWA supply is deployed as DeFi collateral, and the Treasury-heavy sector correlates with Fed policy moves. In March 2024, Curio lost ~$16M to a voting power privilege flaw that minted 1B unauthorized CGT tokens despite a sound TradFi structure, and RealT fractional real estate tokens turned over about once per year per property.
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