RWA Sector Financing Review for the First Three Quarters: 26 Companies Secured Nearly 250 Million USD, with Almost Half in Seed Rounds

RWA is one of the rapidly growing segments in the market this year, with various institutions and funds competing to establish a presence. This article from PANews reviews 26 RWA projects that have officially announced financing in 2024, collectively securing $250 million in funding this year, most of which are in the million-dollar financing range. Additionally, the investment enthusiasm for RWA has significantly increased since the second quarter of this year, with a diverse range of project types receiving funding. The influx of capital often reflects the development trends in the market; currently, VCs are also inclined to seek new opportunities and growth points within the RWA narrative. According to incomplete statistics from PANews, the 26 officially announced RWA projects have cumulatively secured $380 million in funding over the years, with nearly $250 million raised just this year. This figure has already surpassed the total financing amount of $247 million from last year, further highlighting the popularity of RWA this year. In terms of financing scale, the average investment amount for these projects this year is approximately $10.31 million, primarily driven by the three highest-funded projects: Securitize, Huma Finance, and Lumia, which raised $47 million, $38 million, and $25 million respectively, accounting for nearly half of the total financing. The remaining projects generally secured financing in the millions range. Moreover, in terms of financing frequency, there are 10 projects that have received multiple rounds of additional investment. For instance, Securitize has secured five rounds of financing since its establishment in 2017, Centrifuge has also been funded five times over six years, and Lumia completed three rounds of financing after its launch in 2018. This year, projects like Lumia, Zoth, and MANTRA have received multiple investments over several months, and their ongoing financing capabilities provide a greater competitive advantage. The overall financing pace for RWA accelerated starting in May this year, with 11 RWA projects announcing financing in that month, and seven projects disclosing investment in the third quarter. In terms of the distribution of financing rounds, the activities predominantly focus on early-stage and growth-stage projects, mainly consisting of seed rounds, strategic rounds, and Series A rounds. Specifically, seed rounds are the most frequent, totaling 12, which accounts for 46.2% of the overall financing count; followed by five strategic investments, making up 19.2%; and two Series A rounds, with the remaining seven rounds not disclosing specific information. This indicates that capital is more favorable towards growth-stage enterprises. Upon closer examination of the project establishment dates, it can be found that the majority have been launched only within the past two to three years, with 62.5% of the projects being launched after 2022, and only nine projects established more than three years ago. The types of RWA projects are also diverse, including lending, AI, L2, real estate, stablecoins, PayFi, and bonds, among others. Of course, behind the significant influx of capital are star-level investment institutions, including BlackRock, Nomura Holdings, Binance Labs, Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Wintermute, all competing and establishing their positions. As one of the main narratives for capital investment, RWA has gradually entered mainstream visibility and has become one of the few segments in the crypto field experiencing significant market scale growth this year. According to data from RWA.xyz, as of September 25, the market value of RWA, excluding stablecoins, has exceeded $12.60 billion. Among them, the tokenized U.S. Treasury market stands out, with a market value nearing $2.22 billion, managed by BlackRock's BUIDL and Franklin's FOBXX, which manage approximately $520 million and $430 million, respectively. Moreover, the rapid ascent of the overall scale of the RWA sector is indeed astonishing. According to data from Artemis, since the beginning of this year, the market value of RWA has increased at a staggering growth rate of 301%, ranking first, far exceeding other popular sectors such as MEME, AI, DeFi, and DePIN. The user base for RWA is also rapidly growing. Dune data shows that the number of RWA token holders on Ethereum has already exceeded 136,000, up 134.5% since the beginning of the year. While the RWA ecosystem is expanding significantly, the industry also recognizes and is optimistic about the future development prospects of this sector. For example, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently expressed support for the idea of selling company shares in token form linked to the RWA concept, and hopes to see more diverse RWAs appear on-chain, allowing applications to utilize them without being constrained by the systemic risks of a single issuer or asset class. Colin Butler, Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon, predicts that tokenized RWA represents a $30 trillion market opportunity, driven by high-net-worth individuals and private equity funds, as tokenization brings liquidity and accessibility to historically illiquid asset classes. Amie Coutts, Chief Crypto Analyst at Real Vision, stated that if the current 121% two-year compound annual growth rate continues, the value of tokenized traditional assets could reach around $1.30 trillion by 2030. Standard Chartered Bank and Synpulse have also predicted that by 2034, the scale of tokenized RWA could reach $30.10 trillion.