Meet the Projects Bringing Real-World Assets to DeFi

The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem continues to evolve. In 2025, Real-World Assets (RWAs) have become the bridge between traditional finance and blockchain. By bringing off-chain assets, such as bonds, real estate, and invoices, onto the blockchain, DeFi protocols are unlocking new forms of value, utility, and yield.

This article introduces the most impactful projects leading the RWA movement. These innovators are not only tokenizing real-world assets; they are transforming how global markets access, trade, and invest in them.

Centrifuge: Unlocking Real-World Liquidity

Centrifuge brings private credit and real-world assets into DeFi by enabling businesses to finance tangible assets, such as invoices, mortgages, and inventory. It tokenizes these assets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and allows users to finance them through Tinlake, its liquidity platform.

Centrifuge allows borrowers to bypass traditional intermediaries. It lets investors earn stable yields from real-world loans. Institutional partners, such as MakerDAO and Aave, have integrated Centrifuge pools into their collateral frameworks.

Core Features:

Tokenizes off-chain assets into NFTs
Provides liquidity pools for asset financing
Enables real yield from SME lending

Centrifuge democratises access to credit markets and reduces friction between borrowers and DeFi capital providers.

Ondo Finance: Bringing Treasuries On-Chain

Ondo Finance focuses on tokenizing U.S. Treasury bills and offering them on-chain in the form of OUSG (Ondo US Government Bond Fund). It provides risk-conscious DeFi users with exposure to yield-bearing, real-world instruments.

Ondo issues fully regulated and compliant products, partnering with custodians like BlackRock to manage underlying assets. Users can buy tokenized shares of Treasury bonds using stablecoins and receive passive income in return.

Key Innovations:

Tokenized U.S. Treasuries available 24/7
Daily yield payouts backed by tangible assets
Institutional-grade custody and transparency

Ondo enables crypto-native investors to earn safe, predictable returns—without leaving the blockchain.

Goldfinch: Powering Emerging Market Lending

Goldfinch enables crypto capital to flow into emerging markets through unsecured, real-world loans. It operates a two-tier lending model that includes “backers” who supply first-loss capital and “liquidity providers” who supply passive funds.

Goldfinch targets small businesses and local lenders in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. It ensures compliance through Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and utilises off-chain loan data to assess risk.

Highlights:

Supports uncollateralized loans to real-world borrowers
Promotes financial inclusion in underbanked regions
Distributes USDC interest to liquidity providers

Goldfinch channels DeFi liquidity into impactful and profitable lending opportunities worldwide.

Maple Finance: Institutional Credit Without Banks

Maple Finance builds decentralized credit markets tailored to institutional borrowers. It facilitates undercollateralized loans to businesses like market makers, Web3 startups, and trading firms.

Each pool on Maple has a delegate that underwrites loans and manages risk. Borrowers undergo a due diligence process, and lenders earn fixed or variable interest in stablecoins such as USDC or USDT.

Strategic Advantages:

Offers on-chain, undercollateralized lending for institutions
Increases capital efficiency and access for credible borrowers
Integrates compliance tools and credit analytics

Maple removes the inefficiencies of traditional banking and delivers fast, scalable capital solutions.

RealT: Tokenized Real Estate Made Simple

RealT tokenizes U.S. rental properties and sells fractional ownership as Ethereum-based tokens. These tokens entitle holders to a share of rental income, which RealT distributes in stablecoins.

Investors choose properties, purchase tokens, and receive daily rent payments. RealT handles property management and regulatory compliance, making real estate investing as easy as holding an NFT.

What RealT Offers:

Fully tokenized real estate on Ethereum
Daily income streams in USDC or DAI
Fully compliant with U.S. securities regulations

RealT turns income-generating properties into accessible, liquid, on-chain assets for global investors.

Tangible: Tokenizing Tangible Goods

Tangible takes physical items, such as gold, wine, and luxury watches, and converts them into NFTs backed by real assets stored in insured vaults. Investors can buy these NFTs and trade them freely while holding ownership of the physical item.

When ready, an investor can redeem the NFT for delivery of the item or sell it back into the market.

Utility and Appeal:

Brings hard assets to DeFi
Creates liquid markets for illiquid items
Enables alternative asset diversification

Tangible gives investors inflation-resistant assets in a tokenized, transparent format.

Backed Finance: Tokenized Securities with Regulatory Focus

Backed Finance issues tokenized versions of traditional securities, including stock ETFs and bond indexes. Its bTokens track real-world assets and comply with Swiss regulatory standards.

Backed lets investors gain exposure to legacy markets directly on-chain, with no need to hold brokerage accounts or go through centralized intermediaries.

Standout Features:

Regulatory compliance from the ground up
Tokenized equity and bond ETFs
Real-world exposure for DeFi-native investors

Backed Finance breaks the wall between Wall Street and Web3 without compromising on compliance.

Why RWA Projects Matter in DeFi’s Future

These projects don’t just introduce new assets—they fundamentally reshape the DeFi landscape.

By integrating stable, cash-flowing instruments, they:

Reduce reliance on volatile native tokens
Attract institutional and mainstream investors
Bridge traditional financial systems with decentralized infrastructure
Offer consistent yield and portfolio diversification

Tokenized real-world assets represent a trillion-dollar opportunity. RWAs are not just a trend—they are the foundation of the next phase of DeFi.

Final Thoughts

The line between traditional finance and decentralized finance grows thinner every day. Projects like Centrifuge, Ondo, Goldfinch, and RealT are doing more than building tools—they’re rewriting the rules of ownership, access, and yield.

As investors seek safer and more predictable returns, these RWA platforms will power the infrastructure behind decentralized fixed income, credit, and real estate. If you want to position yourself for the future of finance, start by exploring the protocols that are turning real-world assets into digital opportunity.

Disclaimer: The information in this article should not be considered financial advice, and FXCryptoNews articles are intended only to provide educational and general information. Please consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.