Background: In 2025, the Real-World Asset (RWA) market has become a significant trend in the cryptocurrency industry. Despite research indicating a substantial growth in the RWA market size, industry executives believe that the sector is still in its early stages and remains relatively small.

Main Content: Industry insiders point out that the endorsement of RWAs is not only a technical issue but also involves legal and financial aspects. Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed, emphasizes that trust depends on product structuring, transparency, and the regulatory compliance of the issuers. Alan Konevsky, Vice President of TZero, states that the tokenization of RWAs based on physical assets still requires intermediaries from traditional markets. Ross Shemeliak, co-founder of Stobox, proposes that data-rich RWA tokens embed dynamic asset data on the blockchain, enhancing transparency and investor confidence. In the industry, Chainlink's proof of reserves and cross-chain interoperability protocols are adopted by multiple platforms. According to the Stobox report, the British Virgin Islands, Wyoming (USA), Liechtenstein, Singapore, and the Marshall Islands are the primary jurisdictions for tokenized transactions, but the potential of Singapore and Luxembourg has yet to be fully realized.

Potential Impact: With the improvement of legal frameworks and technology, RWA tokenization is expected to enhance asset transparency and investment security, driving the development of the crypto asset market. SoSoValue was mentioned in related discussions.

The real-world asset (RWA) market has emerged as one of the key trends in the cryptocurrency industry in 2025, with companies increasingly jumping on the tokenization bandwagon. Although some studies pointed to a massive 260% rise of RWAs this year, some key industry executives have questioned the magnitude of the reported market size, arguing that the sector is still too nascent and relatively small . Industry executives told Cointelegraph that slow adoption may stem from outdated regulations, limited access and widespread misunderstandings of how tokenized assets are backed. However, the question of RWA backing is not just related to technology but is instead subject to other considerations. The question of backing in RWAs is important since crypto tokens are often driven by hype, marketing or memes rather than real fundamentals, Adam Levi, co-founder of the tokenization platform Backed , told Cointelegraph. “For real-world assets like tokenized equities, trust depends entirely on how the product is structured and how transparent and regulated the issuer is,” Levi said. When evaluating financial RWA tokens like those issued by Backed’s xStocks, it’s important to understand that their backing is not primarily a technology question, according to Levi. “It’s a legal and financial one,” Levi said, adding that the guarantee is the issuer’s binding legal obligation to maintain full backing and transparent issuance and redemption mechanisms, governed by clear regulations: “Technology — secure smart contracts, tech platforms and custody integrations — are also essential, but trust in financial products comes from enforceable commitments under strong regulatory frameworks. The foundation is legal, not just code.” TZero’s executive vice president, Alan Konevsky, said tokenization of RWAs, particularly those based on physical objects like real estate or collectibles, cannot be a fully automated process just yet. “Financial instruments, arguably in particular if it’s also tokenized, can be fully automated,” he said, adding that tokenization of physical assets requires intermediation by traditional market participants. RWA backing is a real issue for the industry, but it’s not unique to crypto, as similar challenges exist in traditional investments like real estate, Stobox co-founder Ross Shemeliak told Cointelegraph. “Tokenization is just an investment method here,” Shemeliak said, agreeing that responsibility currently falls on tokenization providers, who conduct enhanced due diligence and review the offering memorandum, underlying assets and legal restrictions. “Still, this isn’t a 100% safety guarantee: verification complexities sometimes lead providers to launch scam projects,” he noted, suggesting a solution in the form of data-rich RWA tokens, where the smart contract holds repository data and asset details directly on the blockchain. According to Shemeliak, data-rich RWA tokens don’t just represent ownership but rather embed or link to structured, dynamic data about the asset, such as valuation, legal status, and other structured, dynamic data. “This creates a new level of transparency, interoperability, and investor trust — something traditional securities and early-stage tokens often lacked,” he said. Among industry examples of data-rich RWA token technology, Shemeliak mentioned Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol , implemented by platforms like Backed Finance, Maple Finance and Centrifuge. Related: Investment giant Guggenheim taps Ripple to expand digital debt offering Additionally, Stobox found that the top five jurisdictions for running a tokenization deal are the British Virgin Islands, the US State of Wyoming, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the Marshall Islands. “Despite being among the top five in terms of regulatory quality and efficiency, Singapore and Luxembourg remain underutilized as special purpose vehicle destinations for tokenization deals: they account for less than 2% of global deals,” Stobox stated in its Tokenization Jurisdiction Report shared with Cointelegraph. Magazine: Baby boomers worth $79T are finally getting on board with Bitcoin 

Analysis of Endorsement Issues and Industry Status of Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization in 2025