The Race For Market Leadership In RWA Tokenization
The Tokenization Race: Traditional Finance and New Finance Are Battling for Market Leadership in the Tokenization of Real-World Assets
Traditional finance is fast encroaching on what was once the brainchild of the fintech pioneers playing in the blockchain sandbox. You used to need a cryptocurrency exchange to buy and sell Bitcoin. Now Grayscale and other financial firms can do it for you, protected by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fintech guys came up with another idea: let’s tokenize real world assets (RWA) and build a market there. Wall Street got wind of it. Now they’re in on it, too.
Tokenization is the process of converting real-world assets into digital tokens on a blockchain. This is reshaping traditional markets, and sets the table for a whole host of investment opportunities for retail investors who prefer to work within the rules of TradFi rather than the hackable world of the blockchain.
Fintech companies started tokenizing things like U.S. Treasury bonds, real estate and private equity. Toronto-based Polymath (POLY) is often credited as one of the pioneering fintech companies in this space. They also developed Polymesh, an institutional-grade blockchain tailored for regulated assets, emphasizing security and compliance for investors who don’t want to lose their shirts in new investment schemes.
“Tokenization marks a change in how value is transferred to investors,” said Alex Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of the Pharos Network, a Layer 1 blockchain platform focused on RWAFi.
“In the traditional investment world, buying bonds or private equity often requires high minimum investments, long lockup periods, and unclear processes. Tokenization aims to make these assets tradable, fractional, and programmable,” said Zhang. “They become more like a DeFi product while still being tied to real value.”
Pharos was founded by former AntChain and Alibaba blockchain leaders around two years ago. The network is currently in its internal development phase, having launched a public testnet on March 6, 2025.
Wall Street regulars are diving into this trend hard, promising more liquidity, easy access and security.
TradFi Moving Into Tokenization of Real World Assets
BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Goldman Sachs are the main ones offering digital versions of traditional assets to investors of all sizes.
- BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund: Tokenized …
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