RWA tokenization: From asset packaging to comprehensive innovation in capital markets--Tiger Researc

From tokenization to infrastructure restructuring: Institutions embrace real-world assets into a new phase

The driving force originally intended to bring real estate, private equity and bonds to the chain is no longer limited to tokenization itself. The latest report released by Seoul-based Tiger Research points out that institutional participation in real-world assets (RWA) has entered a clear second phase-its core is no longer simply digitization assets, but rebuilding capital market infrastructure. The shift shifts the focus of discussions from \"Can we tokenize this bond?\" Turning to \"Can the underlying architecture of global markets operate on blockchain tracks?\"

The timing is not accidental. The on-chain value of the tokenized market has just exceeded US$20 billion. A recent weekly tokenization review also mentioned Bullish\'s $4.2 billion acquisition of financial infrastructure company Equiniti, and Ondo Finance and JPMorgan Chase\'s first real-time settlement of tokenized treasury bonds. These transactions are reflecting a broader trend: institutional funds are no longer on the margins of experimentation, but are beginning to demand settlement finality, counterparty transparency and composability that blockchain native infrastructure can provide but that traditional systems have never designed for.

Infrastructure layer is being rebuilt

Tiger Research characterizes the current phase as a comprehensive renovation of infrastructure rather than an expansion of derivatives. Custody, collateral management and clearing-areas long controlled by a small number of trusted intermediaries-are being redesigned around shared ledgers and smart contract logic. The report points out that early RWA projects were too focused on creating asset wrappers; now, the focus has shifted to interbank settlement networks, on-chain repo agreements, and collateral that can flow in real time across time zones without the need for batch processing.

This distinction is crucial for market participants. Those tokenized assets that rely on off-chain trust settlement through bilateral transactions seem innovative, but fail to touch on core inefficiencies. When custody providers, exchanges, and transfer agents operate on synchronized infrastructure, reconciliation costs fall and capital efficiency improves-the essential difference between digital products and modern market structures.

Regulatory uncertainty accompanies the construction process

While infrastructure renovation is advancing, major financial legislation is encountering unexpected resistance in Washington. Just before the Senate vote, banks tried to kill the most important crypto bill, and the regulatory environment remained unpredictable. Any lasting infrastructure requires a clear legal definition of custody, the bankruptcy isolation nature of assets on the chain, and cross-border enforceability-issues that have not yet been resolved.

This uncertainty has slowed the pace of institutional entry, but it does not seem to prevent progress at the engineering level. Companies are building on the assumption that the regulatory framework will eventually catch up-a pattern that anyone who has followed the early stages of ETF approvals or swaps market reform will be familiar to. Tiger Research\'s report suggests that the next wave of adoption will rely less on token prices and more on whether the legal layer hardens quickly enough to support the settlement network being built.

What signals should we pay attention to next?

If this assertion is true, then the next meaningful indicator of progress will no longer be the total lock-up value of RWA, but a real-time settlement link between regulated financial institutions without manual intervention. Silent production milestones-such as a pension fund transferring intraday collateral on-chain, or a custodian automatically completing reconciliations with transfer agents-far outweigh large tokenization announcements settled off-chain.

At the same time, developer activity remains highly concentrated on the basic blockchain that supports the RWA market-Ethereum, BNB Chain and Polygon lead the latest developer rankings. Continued agreement-level work shows that the tool level is advancing and the legal level is catching up. Whether these tools can translate into the capital market reforms described by Tiger Research will depend on the coordinated action of builders and regulators, rather than on a single breakthrough product.