Exploring the Growing Role of Asset Providers in the DeFi-RWA Ecosystem

In the emerging world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), the use of Real World Assets (RWA) is growing rapidly. RWA are tokens that represent ownership of traditional assets like real estate, fixed income, equities, and more. RWAs are collateralized and traded on blockchain based platforms, providing new investment opportunities to a broader range of investors.

Binance Research, the research and analysis arm of Binance published a report called the ‘Industry Map’, which mentioned the RWA sector with two spotlights: RWA Rails and Asset Providers. In our previous post, we covered RWA Rails, which are blockchain protocols that facilitate the creation, management, and trading of RWA. In this article, we will focus on the Asset Providers in the RWA ecosystem.

What are Asset Providers?

Asset Providers are companies that originate and create demand for RWAs that maintain a specific underlying asset class. They are responsible for originating, underwriting, and structuring the RWA, as well as creating a market for it.

They can be further categorized into Real Estate, Climate, Private Fixed Income, Public Fixed Income/Public Equities, Emerging market and Trade Finance.

Real Estate ?? 

Real Estate Asset Providers originate and create demand for real estate-backed RWAs. Some notable players in this space are:

Mattereum renders real-world physical assets (especially Real Estate) compatible with an e-commerce world.

RealT fractionalizes real estate properties into RWAs and creates a two-sided market between sellers and buyers.

Robinland provides fixed passive income to retail investors by tokenizing institutional-grade commercial real estate in a legal and decentralized fashion.

EktaChain creates a marketplace around tokenized and fractionalized real estate properties.

Parcl allows users to trade the US real estate housing market through RWAs.

Propy Inc. uses RWAs to automate the closing process for real estate purchases.

Climate ?? 

Climate Asset Providers originate and create demand for climate asset-backed RWAs. Some notable players in this space are:

Regen Network Development PBC is a marketplace to buy, trade, and retire ecological credits in the digital carbon market.

KlimaDAO sells bonds and rewards KLIMA holders while accumulating real carbon assets in its treasury.

Flowcarbon provides end-to-end solutions for carbon credits, from RWA origination to credit sales and corporate portfolio management.

Toucan Protocol facilitates the integration of environmental assets, starting with carbon credits, onto the blockchain for improved accessibility to markets and developers.

frigg.eco aids project developers in obtaining crypto refinancing by issuing green bonds on-chain.

Private Fixed Income ?? 

Private Fixed Income Asset Providers originate and create demand for private fixed income-backed RWAs. Some notable players in this space are:

Maple offers a platform for credit professionals to lend pooled capital to institutional borrowers.

TrueFi enables collateral-free lending for borrowers with real-world assets, generating earnings for lenders.

Clearpool is a decentralized marketplace for institutions to borrow unsecured funds from a network of proven creditworthy lenders.

Fortunafi creates high-yield investment products by pooling and securitizing RWAs on-chain.

Public Fixed Income/Public Equities ?? 

Public Fixed Income/Public Equities Asset Providers originate and create demand for public fixed-income and equity-backed RWAs. Some notable players in this space are:

Swarm is the world's first organization to provide regulated and decentralized trading of tokenized US Treasury bills and public stocks.

Ondo Finance brings Institutional-Grade financial products, such as US Treasuries and Corporate Bonds, into DeFi.

Backed Finance AG creates ERC-20 tokens that represent ownership of structured product units. Each token is backed by different public security.

Vested Finance is an investment advisor that is registered with the SEC and allows DeFi investors to gain exposure to public equity products.

BondbloX Bond Exchange is a fractionalized bond exchange that offers an assortment of public corporate bond offerings.

Emerging Market ??

Emerging market Asset Providers focus on originating and creating demand for RWA assets coming from emerging markets. Some notable players in this space are:

Goldfinch is a decentralized protocol that allows for crypto borrowing without crypto collateral to primarily emerging market companies.

Jia provides blockchain-based loans, investments, and ownership to businesses worldwide.

Credix connects institutional investors across the globe with blockchain-based credit opportunities.

Brú Finance is a decentralized lending protocol focused on agricultural commodities.

Trade Finance ?? 

Trade Finance Asset Providers originate and create demand for trade finance-backed RWAs. Some notable players in this space are:

Defactor is providing a DeFi-based source of funding to help close the Trade Finance gap. 

Harbor is making trade finance more accessible, user-friendly, and efficient for businesses by using blockchain solutions. 

Polytrade is a decentralized trade finance platform focused on receivables financing.

ConsolFreight LLC is an ecosystem for freight forwarders looking to generate more businesses through crypto financing and DeFi accessibility.

The contribution of Asset Providers to bringing traditional financial assets into DeFi is significant. With the RWA vertical evolving quickly, we can expect the emergence of new Asset Providers in the future.

Understanding the role of Asset Providers in the RWA ecosystem is crucial. They are responsible for originating and creating demand for different asset classes, making them accessible for DeFi users. If you found this article informative, feel free to like and share it with your connections.

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Source: Binance Research

#Web3 #DeFi #RWAs