The real-world asset (RWA) sector has seen astonishing growth over the past three years, soaring to a staggering 58 times its previous valuation. The burgeoning market has captivated investors and institutions alike, indicating a significant shift in how traditional assets are managed and traded.
Recent data from DeFiLlama reveals that the total value locked (TVL) in the RWA sector now stands at an unprecedented $8.217 billion, with a remarkable $1 billion increase occurring within just the last week. This surge highlights the dynamic nature of this emerging sector and its increasing importance in the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape.
Major Players Fueling Growth
Key players such as stablecoin issuer Usual and decentralized finance investment management platform Hashnote are at the forefront of this explosive growth. DeFiLlama’s data indicates that Hashnote has experienced a weekly increase of 65.58%, propelling its TVL to $1.497 billion. Meanwhile, Usual has recorded a slightly higher growth rate of 65.65%, bringing its TVL to $1.445 billion.
Over the last 30 days, both platforms have exhibited astonishing performance, with Usual’s TVL skyrocketing by 230% and Hashnote’s rising by 217%. Together, these two players account for over 35% of the total value of assets locked in the RWA sector.
Usual’s impressive growth has been bolstered by a recent $10 million Series A funding round led by industry giants Binance Labs and Kraken Ventures. Additionally, the platform’s governance token recently saw its price reach a new all-time high amidst controversial events involving a hacked account that falsely promoted a partnership between the U.S. government and Usual.
Apart from Usual and Hashnote, other platforms like Nest Staking, MatrixDock, Franklin Templeton, and Ethena have also posted positive growth. Nest Staking, for instance, recorded a weekly growth of over 58%, bringing its TVL to $66.24 million. MatrixDock, operating across two chains, climbed by 48.18%, while Ethena experienced more modest gains of 12.38%.
Others Incur Losses
However, the upward trajectory was not universal, with some protocols experiencing declines. According to DeFiLlama’s data, Solv Protocol, DigiFT, Danogo, KlimaDAO, and Fortunafi encountered varying degrees of decrease. Danogo, in particular, reported the most significant weekly loss, dropping over 15% with a TVL of $4 million.
Among larger projects, Solv experienced a decline of more than 10%, with its TVL settling at $712.81 million. Notably, Maker RWA faced the steepest decline over the past 30 days, losing 65% of its value, resulting in a reduction of assets under custody to $290.7 million.
The rapid rise in RWA tokenization could signal a transformative shift in the management and trading of traditional assets. Several participants in the Argentine lithium mining sector have recently announced plans to tokenize their operations with the assistance of Cardano, potentially tapping into a trillion-dollar market. Moreover, financial giants like BlackRock have contributed to legitimizing the space through initiatives like their BUIDL initiative.
This unprecedented growth and interest in the RWA sector may herald a new era for asset management, bridging the gap between conventional finance and the burgeoning world of decentralized finance.
