MANTRA Holds Top Spot in RWA Market as Ondo and Maker Trail

A chart from CryptoDep shows MANTRA ($OM) leading Real World Asset (RWA) projects by market cap at $6.92 billion. It’s followed by Ondo ($ONDO) at $2.61 billion, and Maker ($MKR) at $1.04 billion. Notably, the market caps of other RWA projects are considerably lower, with Pendle ($PENDLE) being next in line at $386 million. The data seems to reflect the growing interest in tokenizing physical assets like real estate and commodities on blockchains.

RWA tokenization gained momentum going into 2025, with the market reaching $13.7 billion a few months ago. The listed tokens, such as Maker and Pendle, represent diverse RWA applications, from stablecoin-backed assets to decentralized finance integrations.

As such, RWAs have become a hot topic in the current market cycle because they represent a bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The expressed interest from major institutions like BlackRock and JPMorgan has contributed to the increased attention surrounding tokenized assets.

When you look at the chart, the wide gap between the market caps among RWAs is quite noticeable. MANTRA is leading the charge by far, possibly due to its partnerships and regulatory-friendly approach. In addition, the project is building a full-stack RWA ecosystem, focusing on tokenized real estate, institutional finance, and DeFi integrations.

On the other hand, Ondo is offering tokenized US Treasury bonds, which are among the safest yield-generating assets in TradFi. This makes Ondo particularly appealing to institutions.

Most of the other RWAs seem to be doing well according to presented data. This is likely due to blockchain technology improving the liquidity and accessibility of real estate, bonds, and credit markets.

What are RWAs?

Real World Assets refer to physical or traditional financial assets that have been tokenized and brought onto the blockchain. These can include various things such as real estate, gold, oil, bonds, treasury securities, and even private equity and venture capital investments.

Generally speaking, RWAs provide stable and real world-backed returns, attracting DeFi users who look for reliable yields amid the everlasting crypto market unpredictability. This attracts institutional investors and traditional hedge funds into the mix as well.

The appealing part about RWAs is that they allow investors worldwide to access financial instruments that were previously limited to large institutions. From the looks of it, they are likely to play an important role in the future of blockchain-based finance.

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