Can RWAs catch up with Stablecoins ?

[Firstfrost]

Tokenized assets have reached approximately $300B with stablecoins been the majority at $267B in circulation while tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) like have grown to $26B mostly adopted by institutions.

That industry is growing with but obviously stablecoins is the backbone because they move constantly for trading, payments and more but most RWAs are still and not often used in DeFi.

Even though RWAs do offer yield, they are not as fluid as Stablecoins. This I think might result in slow adoption and I don't see them meeting up stablecoins. RWAs might win in rank up in value but will they ever move like stablecoins do ? What’s your opinion ?

[asriloni]

Even though RWAs do offer yield, they are not as fluid as Stablecoins. This I think might result in slow adoption and I don't see them meeting up stablecoins. RWAs might win in rank up in value but will they ever move like stablecoins do ? What’s your opinion ?

There will always be symbiote mutualism between RWA and stablecoin. Yeah, stablecoin has been spreading so fast compared to the RWA. However, holding it is not as profitable as holding RWA, right? More platforms are allowing you to borrow stablecoin by collateralizing your RWA. That means more integration between both will benefit more to the stable coin and RWA users.

Also i suggest you to read these articles.

https://investor.visa.com/news/news-details/2024/Visa-Introduces-the-Visa-Tokenized-Asset-Platform/default.aspx

https://www.ubs.com/global/tc/media/display-page-ndp/en-20241101-first-tokenized-investment-fund.html

It will give you insight about how big the adoption is going to happen with RWAs. It's only matter of time as RWA is a sleeping narrative. Just wait until it wakes up.

[gluedog]

Stablecoins and RWAs do different jobs, stables are the money leg/settlement rail with high velocity; RWAs are yield-bearing claims (T-bills, credit, gold) with heavier KYC/redemption friction, so lower velocity. "Catch up" depends on the metric--RWAs could rival stables in market cap if tokenized treasuries scale, but they won't match stablecoin payment/trading flow. The unlocks for DeFi are clear: 24/7 mint/redeem, strong oracles/NAV, bankruptcy-remote structures, and collateral factors that don't punish composability.

Curious: which RWA segment are you actually watching, T-bill tokens, gold, or private credit? What single change would make you use RWAs in DeFi tomorrow, instant redemption, higher yield, or better collateral treatment? And in stress events, what matters most to you: issuer risk, oracle risk, or exit liquidity?

[d5000]

Apart from these RWAs who can offer a profit (yield) by simply holding them, for me some classes of RWAs could be interesting to create "your own non-USD stablecoin", as a kind of insurance against inflation.

RWAs based on commodities fitting basic needs like like oil or tokenized edibles (soybeans, wheat ...) often move up also when the inflation in e.g. the USD "currency area" is growing. You could then build your own "basket currency" with several RWAs, based on those commodities you've a personal interest in, or you think they could be representative for the goods you will need in your life.