The true breakthrough for RWA lies not in tokenizing more mainstream assets but in activating the vast pool of “silent assets” — those sidelined by traditional finance due to valuation complexity, illiquidity, or regulatory opacity. By enabling these assets to express and trade their value on-chain, RWA can catalyze entirely new market dynamics.
In this light, RWA should transcend its role as an asset allocation tool and evolve into a discovery platform for undervalued assets. Globally, over 90% of assets remain non-securitized, including SME receivables, revenue-sharing rights of pre-IPO firms, carbon credits, green energy certificates, and IP royalties. These assets inhabit the blind spots of traditional finance — precisely where RWA’s disruptive potential shines.
Their undervaluation stems not from inherent worthlessness but from the lack of suitable financial infrastructure. Blockchain’s innate properties — fractionalizability, traceability, and verifiability — make it the perfect medium for their expression. Coupled with tools like zero-knowledge proofs, oracles, and AI pricing models, these assets can be decomposed into standardized modules, then reassembled into tradable on-chain instruments.
Pioneering projects are already demonstrating this:
• DBS Bank & Helicap (Singapore): Tokenized SME loans in Southeast Asia reduced financing costs by 40% and slashed settlement from T+2 to T+0.
• Untangled Finance (Ethereum): Tokenized African agricultural loans, carbon credits, and telecom receivables attracted crossover interest from crypto and ESG funds.
These assets’ original illiquidity becomes their on-chain advantage — their “unattainability” creates scarcity premiums. By pricing and standardizing them, RWA unlocks risk-adjusted returns that appeal to new capital. The lesson is clear: Only by minting new asset classes can RWA attract fresh capital and users.