Why RWAs aren’t the decentralized revolution you think they are
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are the new crypto darling.
Everyone’s hyped: BlackRock’s onchain, treasuries are getting wrapped, and traditional finance is flirting hard with blockchain.
But let’s not get it twisted: RWAs aren’t decentralization. They’re TradFi in a blockchain costume.
Here’s the inconvenient truth:
1. RWAs Are Still Controlled by Centralized Institutions
Want to buy tokenized real estate? Great. But that token doesn’t give you squat unless a legal entity off-chain honors it.
Treasury tokens? Same thing. You’re trusting a fund manager, custodian, or regulatory body to redeem it.
It’s not trustless. It’s regulatory theater with a smart contract backend.
2. There’s No Real Innovation — Just Regulatory Arbitrage
RWAs are less about empowering users and more about navigating global compliance.
It’s not about breaking the system. It’s about bending the rules just enough to extract value while pretending to be futuristic.
This isn’t DeFi. It’s just TradFi with faster accounting.
3. Blockchain Is Becoming a Fancy Excel Sheet
Let’s be honest: most RWA projects don’t need a blockchain. They use it for:
- Token issuance
- Cap table management
- Tracking asset flow
But these are things spreadsheets and CRMs have done for decades.
Putting it onchain doesn’t make it revolutionary — it just makes it buzzword-compliant.
4. Web3 Was Supposed to Replace the System
Web3 wasn’t about rehypothecating bonds or making banks more efficient. It was about disintermediation.
Cutting out the middlemen. Giving power back to users. Trustless systems.
RWAs? They reintroduce the middlemen — they just wear hoodies now.
TL;DR:
Tokenized RWAs sound sexy, but they’re just Wall Street playing dress-up in Web3.
Until these assets are truly decentralized — not just onchain — they’ll remain more TradFi than DeFi.
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