Banks Tokenize Assets: Top 3 Cryptos Set to Profit from RWA Boom
📌 The Rise of Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs)
🔗 For nearly two decades, the crypto space has witnessed evolving narratives. Initially, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Traditional Finance (TradFi) were seen as rivals, with DeFi poised to replace TradFi with its transparency, blockchain accountability, and native digital assets. However, the landscape has shifted dramatically. TradFi institutions have recognized the potential of DeFi and are now actively integrating it, with tokenized assets leading the charge.
Tokenized U.S. Treasuries have become a favorite tool within the financial system. Recent data indicates that approximately $8.3 billion in Treasuries have been tokenized on-chain, with estimates suggesting the total market size is closer to $24-30 billion.
📌 TradFi's Embrace of Tokenization: A Strategic Shift
⚖️ Financial giants like Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon, previously wary of crypto custody due to regulatory and accounting complexities, are now tokenizing money-market funds, short-term government debt, and other liquid assets. This shift is driven by operational efficiencies; tokenized funds enable corporate treasurers to move cash faster, pledge assets more flexibly, and settle trades outside traditional cut-off times. These benefits are particularly appealing to large, multinational corporations handling significant volumes of cash and securities.
The Custody Battleground
⚖️ Tokenization necessitates custody – the secure holding of both the underlying assets (like Treasuries) and the corresponding tokens. This is where the competition intensifies. Crypto-native firms such as Coinbase, with $246 billion in assets under custody, and Fidelity Investments, currently dominate crypto asset custody, charging fees ranging from 0.05% to 0.15% of asset value. As tokenized assets grow, these fee revenues could become substantial. If tokenized cash and Treasuries expand from $8 billion to $25-40 billion, annual revenues of $300-600 million could flow to crypto custodians.
🏛️ Coinbase possesses crypto expertise and infrastructure, but banks have established client bases, trust relationships, and the necessary regulatory permissions to manage large balance sheets. Integrating tokenization into their existing custody services could allow them to capture a significant portion of this value chain.
Tokenization Growth Statistics
💰 Tokenization is experiencing rapid growth. In 2024, the total market cap of tokenized assets increased by 32%, tokenized treasuries surged by 179%, private credit grew by 40%, and commodities increased by 5%. Projections indicate even greater growth across these categories in 2025. The shift from DeFi vs. TradFi to DeFi + TradFi signals a new era in digital finance.
📌 Top 3 Cryptos to Watch in the RWA Tokenization Wave
As tokenization accelerates and banks increasingly adopt crypto, certain cryptocurrencies are poised for significant growth. Here's a look at three tokens positioned to benefit from this trend: $HYPER, $BEST, and $LINK.
1. Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER)
⚖️ Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is a next-generation Layer-2 scaling solution, merging Bitcoin's security with the high-speed architecture of the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). It enables $BTC to be wrapped, staked, and transacted on a high-throughput Layer 2, facilitating near-instant payments, DeFi integration, and complex smart contracts.
⚖️ $HYPER addresses Bitcoin's limitations in transaction speed, network congestion, and scalability by introducing ZK-based validation and cross-chain consensus, enabling thousands of transactions per second while maintaining a cryptographic link to the Bitcoin mainnet.
💱 Holders can stake $HYPER to earn yield, participate in governance, and utilize their $BTC in DeFi ecosystems at scale. Having raised over $24 million in its presale, Bitcoin Hyper is anticipated to be a prominent project in 2025. Projections suggest that Bitcoin Hyper could reach $0.20 by the end of 2026, a 1,425% increase over its current price.
2. Best Wallet Token ($BEST)
💱 Best Wallet ($BEST) powers a non-custodial, multi-chain Web3 wallet designed for the current wave of crypto adoption and tokenization. It integrates DeFi, token swaps, NFT storage, and advanced crypto presale access within a single mobile interface, combining user-friendly simplicity with advanced on-chain functionality.
🔗 The $BEST token drives the wallet's reward ecosystem, offering staking APY, governance rights, and launchpad access for early-stage token sales. The project's roadmap focuses on interoperability across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Solana networks, with plans to add more chains as the project evolves. Users can leverage Best Wallet's multi-wallet capacity to create up to five individual wallets within the app, grouping tokens by blockchain.
⚖️ As self-custody and digital-asset security gain mainstream attention, $BEST is positioned to become the utility backbone of a wallet ecosystem. The presale, currently at $16.6 million, offers tokens for $0.025835. The $BEST price is predicted to rise to $0.072 by the end of the year, delivering 178% gains for current investors.
3. Chainlink ($LINK)
🔗 Chainlink ($LINK) is transitioning from a leading blockchain oracle network to a critical bridge between traditional finance and decentralized systems. Chainlink collaborated with SWIFT to allow banks to continue using ISO 20022 message formats while triggering on-chain events via Chainlink's architecture, enabling institutions to maintain familiar processes while adopting tokenized finance.
Chainlink also introduced the "Digital Transfer Agent" (DTA) technical standard, enabling fund administrators and custodians to manage tokenized fund subscriptions and redemptions on-chain in the same way they do today. A significant initiative with 24 global financial institutions, including DTCC and Euroclear, aims to standardize corporate-actions data on-chain and streamline asset-servicing operations.
Chainlink explicitly links its development to asset tokenization. Founder Sergey Nazarov has emphasized the vast potential market, stating that markets worth hundreds of trillions are in play, and Chainlink intends to open them all to crypto.
📌 Stakeholders’ Positions on RWA Tokenization
| Stakeholder |
Position |
Impact on Investors |
| Lawmakers |
⚖️ Cautiously Supportive, focusing on regulation. |
📈 Increased regulatory scrutiny could impact asset volatility. |
| TradFi Institutions (e.g., Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon) |
Actively adopting tokenization for operational benefits. |
🆕 💰 📈 Potential for new investment products and increased market liquidity. |
| Crypto Projects (e.g., $HYPER, $BEST, $LINK) |
Positioning themselves to facilitate RWA tokenization. |
📈 Opportunity for growth and increased adoption. |
📌 🔑 Key Takeaways
- The convergence of DeFi and TradFi is accelerating through the tokenization of real-world assets, particularly U.S. Treasuries, presenting new opportunities for investors.
- Custody of tokenized assets is becoming a battleground, with both crypto-native firms and traditional banks vying for market share. The increasing involvement of established financial institutions could legitimize and stabilize the crypto market.
- $HYPER, $BEST, and $LINK are identified as key cryptocurrencies positioned to benefit from the growth of RWA tokenization, each offering unique value propositions in Layer-2 scaling, wallet functionality, and oracle services, respectively.
- Investors should closely monitor regulatory developments and assess the risk profiles of projects involved in RWA tokenization.
🔮 Thoughts & Predictions
The integration of TradFi into DeFi via tokenized real-world assets is not just a trend, but a structural shift that will reshape the financial landscape. We anticipate a significant influx of institutional capital into the crypto space as tokenization reduces friction and enhances efficiency. Expect increased regulatory scrutiny but also the emergence of sophisticated financial products leveraging blockchain technology.
🎯 Investor Action Tips
- Research projects involved in RWA tokenization, focusing on their partnerships, regulatory compliance, and technological infrastructure.
- Monitor the growth of tokenized assets, particularly U.S. Treasuries, to gauge the overall market adoption and potential for increased liquidity.
- Assess your risk tolerance and diversify your portfolio to include a mix of established cryptocurrencies and promising projects in the RWA space.
🧭 Context of the Day
Today's market signals a critical shift towards integrating traditional financial assets with blockchain, fundamentally changing how institutions view and interact with crypto.
