- RWA’s total value locked in DeFi surpassed $10 billion, with four major protocols each exceeding $1 billion.
- Institutional interest and blockchain scalability are driving real-world asset adoption across DeFi platforms.
The total locked value (TVL) in Real-World Assets (RWA) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has exceeded $10 billion, according to DefiLlama. This figure is a strong signal that the real world and the crypto world are getting closer and almost inseparable.
In the past, talking about blockchain and traditional assets in one breath felt like uniting two worlds that were impossible to meet. But now? It’s a different story.
This TVL spike is supported by major projects such as Maker RWA, BlackRock BUIDL, Ethena USDtb, and Ondo Finance. Each of them has even passed the $1 billion mark on its own. If this were likened to a supermarket, these four players would be the investors’ baskets—full and heavy, meaning that trust in the tokenization of real-world assets is increasing.
Furthermore, the appeal of Ethena USDtb also adds a different color. This stablecoin is indeed unique because it relies on BlackRock’s money market funds and a strategy integrated with USDe.
And interestingly, in the past month, USDtb’s TVL has jumped more than 1,000%. Yes, that number is not a typo. It’s like putting a piece of paper under a fan—it goes flying high.
zkSync Hits the Gas in the RWA Race
On the other hand, CNF earlier reported that, with a total TVL of $2.03 billion, zkSync Era became the second-largest blockchain for RWA following an explosive 953.79% increase in 30 days. With $4.12 billion, Ethereum still leads, but zkSync’s speed is difficult to overlook. Layer-2 scalability’s appeal, acceptance from major universities, and several incentives meant to draw in fresh users help to explain this success.
Think of it like a car race: Ethereum is the reigning champion who knows the track well, but zkSync is the newcomer with turbos on all wheels. And yes, there’s still a long way to go.
2025 Could Be the Year of the Tokenized World
If you think this is just a passing trend, take a look back at The Australian article published on December 30, 2024. It states that the tokenization of real-world assets is predicted to be one of the major trends in the crypto industry in 2025. This process involves transforming assets such as real estate, intellectual property rights, and commodities into digital tokens on the blockchain.
With tokenization, assets that were previously difficult to trade can be divided like pizza—anyone can have a slice. Not only does it make access easier, but it also opens up new possibilities for more transparent and efficient asset management.
DTCC’s Move Turns Heads Toward RWA
Fascinatingly, the largest securities depository in the world, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), officially registered with the ERC3643 Association on March 20, 2025. Under supervision of the ERC-3643 permission-based real-world asset token standard is this association.
The action of DTCC reveals the seriousness of big institutions regarding RWA. Though there were critics in the past, anyone who still views DeFi as a “wild experiment” had to reconsider today.
Since the ERC-3643 standard is seen as keeping with their objective of building a safer and more efficient financial system, the DTCC has even openly expressed its support for it. Should an institution of this size step into the arena, it feels like validation for RWA is undeniable.
A Costly Reminder That Security Still Matters
However, not all news from the world of RWA is as beautiful as the sunrise over the mountains. On March 21, 2025, a real-world asset restaking protocol called Zoth was attacked by irresponsible parties. The result? A loss of over $8.4 million. Within minutes, their deployer wallets were compromised, then assets were stolen, converted to DAI stablecoin, and disappeared to other addresses.
This incident shows that even though tokenization is becoming more popular, the security aspect is still a big challenge. It’s like a luxury house without a fence: it looks charming, but it’s still vulnerable to being broken into if the lock is weak.
