Normal Chartered projected that tokenization of real-world property (RWAs) past stablecoins might speed up considerably over the subsequent 5 years, pushed by regulatory progress and a sharper concentrate on high-impact use circumstances, in response to a June 20 report shared with CryptoSlate.
The financial institution’s report, titled “RWA Tokenisation — A Development Alternative,” highlighted that whereas stablecoins stay the dominant driver of blockchain-based RWAs, efforts to tokenize non-stablecoin property like personal credit score, securitized debt, personal fairness, and commodities have trailed behind at round $2 billion.
In response to the report, the hole stems largely from uneven laws and early tasks focusing on areas with restricted worth from blockchain adoption.
Focus shifting past stablecoins
Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital property analysis at Normal Chartered, defined that the business’s heavy reliance on stablecoins has overshadowed different tokenization prospects that might rework illiquid and hard-to-access markets.
Kendrick wrote:
“Non-stablecoin RWA tokenization has lagged for numerous causes — regulatory uncertainty and concentrate on flawed areas being amongst them. Nevertheless, as regulatory readability emerges and if tokenizers concentrate on the suitable areas, then development will come.”
The report singled out tokenized personal credit score as a notable early success, citing it as proof that blockchain can unlock actual worth by bettering liquidity for property historically thought of troublesome to commerce.
It argued that the identical logic can prolong to non-public fairness and area of interest commodities markets, the place institutional buyers are actively searching for higher effectivity and transparency.
Regulatory patchwork persists
Regardless of the optimism, Normal Chartered cautioned that regulatory fragmentation stays an impediment. Jurisdictions equivalent to Singapore, Switzerland, the EU, and Jersey have developed clearer guidelines for RWAs, however others lag, whereas know-your-customer (KYC) checks proceed to complicate cross-border adoption.
The financial institution’s analysis referred to as for tokenization methods that emphasize “areas of differentiation from off-chain property” fairly than replicating what already works properly in conventional markets. By doing so, platforms and issuers might acquire traction even in unsure regulatory environments.
The report highlighted that tokenized personal credit score, structured debt, and company bonds have begun to increase steadily, with projections exhibiting an accelerated climb ranging from 2025.
It additional urged that if business gamers leverage classes from personal credit score and construct strong compliance frameworks, non-stablecoin RWAs might emerge as the subsequent main wave within the digital asset sector.