Leading RWA Projects Reshaping Tokenization: Which Crypto with Best Tokenomics Dominates the Space?

The tokenization of real-world assets has evolved from a niche concept to a multi-billion dollar industry. From Bitcoin’s colored coins in the early 2010s to Ethereum’s versatile platform post-2015, the sector has matured significantly. By March 2024, the RWA token market had grown to surpass $8.4 billion, accelerated by institutional entry. BlackRock’s launch of BUIDL—its tokenized USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund on Ethereum—marked a turning point, validating the sector and attracting ecosystem players like Coinbase, BitGo, and Fireblocks. This institutional momentum continues reshaping how investors access and manage physical assets on-chain.

The Investment Case for Tokenized Real-World Assets

Tokenization unlocks several critical advantages for modern investors:

Enhanced Liquidity & Accessibility: By converting illiquid assets into tradable tokens, tokenization democratizes investment access. Previously restricted asset classes become available to a global audience, enabling fractional ownership and portfolio diversification at scales previously unimaginable.

Blockchain Transparency & Security: Distributed ledger technology ensures immutable, tamper-proof transaction records. This builds investor confidence while reducing settlement times—critical when competing for institutional capital in the tokenization space.

DeFi Integration: Tokenized assets now serve as collateral in decentralized finance protocols, creating entirely new yield-generation pathways and financial products unavailable in traditional markets.

Market Growth Catalyst: The tokenization sector is projected to expand to $16 trillion by 2030, attracting builders, institutions, and retail participants eager to participate in this transformation.

Standout Projects Leading RWA Tokenization

Ondo Finance (ONDO): Treasury Tokenization Pioneer

Ondo Finance positions itself at the intersection of traditional finance and decentralized systems. Its flagship product OUSG—the world’s first tokenized U.S. Treasuries offering—allows investors to hold Treasury exposure on-chain with full liquidity benefits.

The platform operates Flux Finance, a lending protocol that accepts tokenized Treasuries as collateral, demonstrating practical RWA utility within DeFi. ONDO governance tokens enable decentralized decision-making on protocol direction and resource allocation.

A watershed moment arrived in March 2024 when Ondo announced plans to migrate $95 million in assets to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, enabling instant settlement for OUSG holders. This partnership represents the first instance of a crypto protocol leveraging a traditional asset manager’s tokenized infrastructure—a validation of both Ondo’s model and the RWA sector’s maturation.

Ondo’s recent expansions onto Sui and Aptos networks signal ambitions to standardize tokenized asset access across multiple blockchain ecosystems.

Mantra (OM): Emerging Market Focus

Mantra operates as a Layer 1 blockchain specifically engineered for RWA tokenization, securing $11 million in Series A funding led by Shorooq Partners. This capital supports regulatory infrastructure development and builder tooling critical for scaling RWA protocols.

The platform targets Asia and Middle Eastern markets where institutional asset tokenization can unlock significant economic growth. OM functions as both governance and utility token, enabling staking for passive income while granting holders voting power over platform evolution.

Current Market Data: OM trades at $0.07 with a 24-hour decline of -5.75%, maintaining a circulating market cap of $84.06M and 24-hour trading volume of $780.19K. Despite short-term volatility, Mantra’s strong backing and regional focus position it as a long-term infrastructure play in RWA tokenization.

Polymesh (POLYX): Security Token Infrastructure

Polymesh represents a purpose-built blockchain for securities tokenization. Unlike general-purpose platforms, its architecture specifically addresses compliance, identity verification, confidentiality, and settlement challenges endemic to security tokens.

The platform bridges private-network trustworthiness with public-chain transparency, creating institutional-grade infrastructure. POLYX—the native token—powers transaction fees, governance, staking, and security token management. Its asymptotic tokenomics model balances participation incentives with controlled inflation.

Current Market Data: POLYX is priced at $0.05, down -3.87% over 24 hours, with a $61.41M circulating market cap and $89.81K daily volume. POLYX’s specialized focus and governance model appeal to institutions seeking structured tokenization frameworks.

OriginTrail (TRAC): Bridging Trust and Data

OriginTrail distinguishes itself by focusing on supply chain transparency through its Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG). By integrating blockchain with AI-ready knowledge assets, OriginTrail enables verifiable data exchange across supply chains, healthcare, construction, and metaverse applications.

TRAC—the ecosystem token launched in 2018—maintains a fixed supply of 500 million tokens. It powers all DKG operations: asset publishing, collateral provision for nodes, and delegated staking. The token’s multichain deployment ensures cross-ecosystem accessibility.

Current Market Data: TRAC trades at $0.40 with a 24-hour decline of -2.30%, commanding a $177.88M market cap and $18.80K daily trading volume. OriginTrail’s positioning around trusted data infrastructure offers unique exposure to RWA validation mechanisms.

Pendle (PENDLE): Yield Tokenization Specialist

Pendle protocols revolutionize yield-bearing asset management by decomposing them into Principal Tokens (PT) and Yield Tokens (YT). This enables users to trade future yields separately from principal on Pendle’s AMM, creating sophisticated hedging and speculation opportunities.

The platform’s recent integration of RWAs—including MakerDAO’s Boosted Dai Savings and Flux Finance’s fUSDC—marks a significant convergence between traditional finance and DeFi. Pendle now enables institutional and retail investors to manage RWA yields efficiently, positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance instruments and decentralized markets.

Current Market Data: PENDLE is trading at $1.80, up +2.79% over 24 hours, with a $296.73M circulating market cap and strong $507.10K daily volume. PENDLE’s positive momentum and institutional appeal demonstrate crypto with best tokenomics characteristics—efficient value distribution driving robust market participation.

TokenFi (TOKEN): No-Code RWA Democratization

TokenFi simplifies RWA creation for users without coding expertise. Its TokenFi Token Launcher enables ERC20/BEP20 token deployment, while AI-powered NFT generation and direct institutional connections facilitate market entry.

TOKEN serves as the utility token enabling platform access, AI smart contract audits, and reduced tokenization fees. This approach directly addresses the RWA market’s projected growth to $16 trillion by 2030.

Current Market Data: TOKEN is priced at $0.00 with a -2.91% 24-hour decline, maintaining a $7.64M circulating market cap and $263.49K trading volume. Despite modest pricing, TOKEN’s focus on accessibility and automation positions it for growth as RWA adoption accelerates.

Additional Major Players in RWA Infrastructure

Securitize combines compliance services with investor communication tools, having serviced over 1.2 million investor accounts across 3,000 clients by 2022. BlackRock’s strategic investment and board appointment underscore its importance in compliant asset digitization.

Untangled Finance launched on Celo network in 2023 following a $13.5 million funding round, specializing in private credit tokenization and accessibility to decentralized investors.

Swarm Markets (SMT) operates with $5.4 million TVL as of March 2024, emphasizing regulatory compliance for traditional-finance institutions entering DeFi through RWA tokenization.

MakerDAO (MKR) represents one of Ethereum’s oldest DeFi protocols, with RWAs now comprising just under 30% of its balance sheet. Of its $6.6 billion TVL, over $2.06 billion derives from real-world assets, demonstrating institutional-scale RWA adoption within decentralized systems.

The RWA Tokenization Trajectory

The tokenization sector’s evolution reflects broader crypto maturation. BlackRock’s institutional-grade offerings, regulatory clarity improvements, and DeFi protocol expansion have transformed RWAs from speculative curiosity to institutional reality.

Market participants now face choices between infrastructure plays (Mantra, Polymesh), yield optimization specialists (Pendle), data verification systems (OriginTrail), and accessibility-focused platforms (TokenFi). Each represents distinct approaches to the RWA opportunity, with crypto with best tokenomics characteristics determining which protocols capture market share.

As institutional adoption accelerates and regulatory frameworks clarify, expect continued RWA ecosystem maturation, expanded asset class coverage, and deeper integration between traditional and decentralized finance. The $16 trillion opportunity ahead suggests the tokenization revolution remains in early innings.