Real-World Asset tokenisation explained: Treasuries, real estate and more

In the early crypto days, we mostly put memes and internet money on-chain. In 2024–2025, we started putting bonds, funds and bits of the real economy there too. That shift is what people call tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA).

It sounds heavy, but the basic idea is simple: turn something from the traditional world into a crypto token you can move 24/7. Today, we are going to walk you through what RWA tokenisation actually is, what’s being tokenised, why institutions suddenly love it, and how a regular trader can follow the trend without FOMO.

What “tokenisation of real-world assets” actually means

Let’s start with an understanding of the terms.

When someone “tokenises” a real-world asset, they:
▪️take something off-chain like cash, bonds, gold, a fund, or even a building;
▪️park it with a bank, custodian or regulated fund structure.
▪️issue tokens on a blockchain that represent claims on that asset.

Think of each token as a digital share in that real-world thing. The real asset stays in the traditional system. Meanwhile, its representation travels on-chain with all the usual crypto perks: 24/7 transfers, programmable logic and composability with DeFi.

Tokenisation doesn’t delete the boring bits, and you still rely on:
▪️the issuer (do they really hold the asset?);
▪️the legal structure (what exactly do you own?);
▪️the chain/contract (are there technical risks?).

When it works, you get the rights with the crypto rails on top.

The RWA boom in 2024–2025

For a long time, “RWA” was mostly conference slideware. Now it’s turning into a real market. By 2024–2025, tokenised real-world assets (excluding stablecoins) have grown into a multi-billion-dollar segment on-chain. Tokenised US Treasuries and money-market funds, in particular, have multiplied several-fold over just a few years. Analytics dashboards track dozens of projects that represent “real stuff” on public blockchains.

A few big examples:
▪️BlackRock BUIDL – a tokenised dollar liquidity fund backed by US Treasuries and cash-like instruments, with billions in assets under management on-chain.
▪️Franklin Templeton – on-chain money-market funds available in some European and Asian jurisdictions.

Compared to global finance, this is still tiny. Compared to where crypto was a few years ago, it’s a big step: real yield and real assets now live on public ledgers.

Main RWA categories

RWA is not one coin – it’s a whole zoo.

Here are the main species you’ll hear about:

Government debt and money-market funds

Tokenised US Treasuries and money-market funds give you transparent yield and relatively well-understood risk. Flagship examples include tokenised Treasury funds and dollar liquidity funds issued by large asset managers.

Why everyone cares: this is real-world yield brought into the 24/7 crypto world, instead of purely speculative APYs.

Tokenised cash and bank products

This umbrella covers tokenised bank deposits, tokenised cash funds, and stablecoins (even though they’re often counted separately).

Stablecoins like USDT and USDC are effectively tokenised dollars: the idea is that they’re backed by cash and short-term debt, but live as instant-settling tokens on-chain. They’re already the “cash layer” of crypto.

Real estate

The idea is to break a property (or a property fund) into tokens and let people buy small fractions. The result is fractional ownership and global access, since you don’t need to buy a whole building to have exposure.

At the same time, there is heavy legal and regulatory work. Real estate law is very “offline” and very local. As a result, the market is still small compared to global real estate, but experiments are growing.

Private credit and corporate bonds

Here tokens represent loans to companies or projects as well as corporate or municipal bonds. These can offer higher yields, but also come with more credit risk. If the borrower fails, the token wrapper won’t save you.

Commodities: gold and friends

“Gold on the blockchain” is already a thing. Tokens here are backed by gold stored in a vault. This occasionally concerns other metals or commodities.

It’s easier to move a token than a bar. But again, you rely heavily on the custodian and issuer doing exactly what they claim.

Why tokenisation is taking off now

Why RWA went from “panel discussion” to “actual TVL” in this cycle:
▪️Regulation is slowly catching up. More jurisdictions now have frameworks for tokenised funds and securities. That gives traditional players a way to do “crypto things” without breaking the rules.
▪️Better blockchain infrastructure. Modern L1/L2 networks, improved custody, KYC’d on-chain identities, battle-tested smart contracts – all of this lowers the operational risk of putting serious money on a chain.
▪️Higher interest rates = real yield to bring on-chain. After years of near-zero rates, bonds and money-market instruments actually pay something again. Tokenising them lets DeFi plug into that real-world yield instead of inventing it out of thin air.
▪️24/7 and programmable finance. Blockchains bring near-instant settlement, automatic interest distributions, easy integration with lending, trading, and structured products. Traditional rails aren’t great at that. Tokenisation is a way of giving old assets new pipes.

What this could mean for regular users and EXMO traders

So far, it sounds like a party for BlackRock and banks. Where do you fit in?

More accessible “traditional” yield

You don’t need a private banker to touch Treasury-like products anymore. Tokenised funds and RWA-backed products are slowly drifting towards platforms and regions that serve retail (though access can still be restricted by jurisdiction and regulation).

For a beginner, the important mental unlock is: on-chain yield can come from real-world sources, not just leverage and hype.

Better plumbing for payments and transfers

The more tokenised cash, deposits and funds exist, the more stable and efficient the stablecoin + on-chain payments ecosystem becomes.

That means:
▪️smoother bridging between fiat and crypto;
▪️better settlement options for exchanges and fintechs;
▪️fewer weird delays when moving value around.

You might not see “RWA” written on the button, but you’ll feel it in faster, more reliable rails.

Deeper liquidity over time

As RWA tokens (where allowed) list on centralised and decentralised platforms, they can deepen order books, tighten spreads, and give traders more pair options.

This is more of a medium-term effect than an overnight revolution, but the direction is clear.

Tokenisation is basically how traditional finance learns to speak blockchain. You don’t have to chase every new RWA ticker – just know enough so that, when a serious product shows up on your favourite exchange, you recognise it for what it is.