Opinion by: Jakob Kronbichler, Co-founder and CEO of Clearpool and Ozean
Assets in the Real World (RWAS) OnChain is not only a concept, but it also gains real appeal.
Stable It proves this. They have become the main source of OnChain volume, with more than 7.7% of annual transfer visas and Mastercards last year. Tokenization U.S. Treasury Department Interest is gaining from institutions seeking benefits.
Stablecoins represents not only successful tokenization. They have grown into financial infrastructure. They are not only digital dollars, but also programmable funds built by other applications.
This platform dynamic separates winners from many struggling RWA projects. Most token assets should be designed as digital replicas.
Tokenization does not mean adoption
You can categorize everything – that doesn’t mean it’s useful.
A quick look at the RWA dashboard and you’ll see the total value of locks growing, issuers more and more attention. However, most value is located in several wallets, minimizing the integration of the Decentralized Financing (DEFI) ecosystem.
This is not liquidity; it is the capital of parking.
Early RWA models focused on parceling assets for custody or settlement rather than being available in DEFI’s limitations. Legal classifications make the problem more complicated, thus limiting how and where assets develop.
Stablecoins succeeds because they solve infrastructure problems, not just representative ones. They can settle immediately, eliminate pre-funding for cross-border flows, and integrate seamlessly into automated systems. Most RWAs are still designed as digital certificates, rather than functional components of the broader financial stack.
That starts to change. Newer designs are compliant and compatible. When a dominant asset is constructed to be integrated rather than just exist, it will be adopted later.
Integration is more than just a technical challenge.
Compliance is the bottleneck
The biggest choice for RWA growth is legal. When a tokenized T-Bill is classified as a secure appearance, it is still a chain of security. This limits which protocols it can interact with and which protocols it can access.
So far, the workaround is to create a closed defi:Kyc’d Wallets that allow manifests and permissions to access. But this method kills synthesis and fragmented fluidity, which is the feature that makes Defi powerful in the first place.
While token wrappers can improve accessibility, they cannot address the basic regulatory situation. The legal structure must be first.
The Senate Genius Law Signs an important step forward, establishing a federal framework for a stablecoin backed by U.S. Treasury bonds. This is by far the most obvious sign that compliant, auditable digital assets are shifting from the edge to the core of institutional financing.
This shift will enable RWA to evolve from static representations to available scalable financial instruments.
Liquidity has not caught up with the narrative
One of RWA’s strongest value propositions is liquidity: 24/7 access, faster solutions and real-time transparency. However, most private trades such as token assets today are characterized by thinner, extensive spreads and limited secondary market activity.
Liquidity lags because regulated assets cannot move freely across regulations. Without interoperability, the market will remain isolated.
Related: RWA Support: How does an issuer ensure a 1:1 nail with token assets?
Stablecoins suggests that liquidity comes from combination. When currencies like Euro and Singaporean currencies exist like programmable tokens, the Ministry of Finance’s operations shifted from a multi-step process to instant cross-border transactions. Most token assets are missed because they are designed as endpoints rather than interoperable components.
This solution is not more tokens. What is needed is an infrastructure designed for both sides of the bridge, with built-in compliance and transparency that meets organizational expectations.
Organizations need to be upgraded
From an agency perspective, most existing systems may be clumsy, but they are compliant. They work well enough. Without gradual changes in efficiency, cost or compliance, it is difficult to migrate to blockchain. Things change when RWA infrastructure is built specifically for organizational workflows.
When compliance is not only fixed on structure. When linked to liquidity, agency-level custody and reporting are seamless and they won’t be sewn together.
That’s what makes OnChain worth it.
Defi requires assets that can be used
RWA aims to bridge the gap between Defi and traditional finance. But now, many people are trapped in between.
As institutions get closer to OnChain integration, the FEFI protocol faces the challenge of adapting to its infrastructure to support real-world restricted assets.
The most commonly used assets of Defi are still local: Stablecoins, Ether(Ether(Ether)(eth) and liquid possession tokens (LSTS). Tokenized RWA remains largely isolated and cannot participate in loan markets, collateral pools, or income strategies.
Legal restrictions on asset classification and user access mean that certain agreements cannot support them, at least without substantial modifications.
That starts to change. We are seeing new original graphs designed to make RWAs able to combine, bridge compliance and availability in a controlled environment without compromise.
This evolution is crucial: it will make RWA functionally relevant within Defi, not just adjacent to it.
Every institution needs a tokenized strategy
The first wave of institutions is now choosing their tokenization strategy. The difference between winning and losing depends on platform thinking: building an infrastructure that others can base on, not just packaging assets in digital form.
Just as every company needed to adopt a mobile strategy in 2010 and a cloud strategy in 2015, institutions now need to develop plans for token assets.
Companies that recognize this transition early will build their systems to participate and possibly control the emerging token economy.
Those who wait will be trapped on someone else’s platform, with limited control, less flexibility and room for improvement.
Opinion: Jakob Kronbichler, co-founder and CEO of Clearpool and Ozean.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be considered legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent Cointelegraph’s views and opinions.
