While the overall market continues to face pressure, real-world assets (RWA) have become one of the few sectors that continue to attract attention, with the market growing by more than 150% this year. Additionally, Chris Yin, co-founder and CEO of Plume, forecasts that this market could grow up to 10 times or 20 times, both in terms of value and user adoption next year, even under cautious assumptions.
In an interview with BeInCrypto, Yin explained the reasons why RWAs are starting to gain attention at this time in the market. He also emphasized why they may continue to be a focal point throughout the next market cycle.
Why are investors choosing RWAs in 2025?
In the fourth quarter, the overall crypto market faced significant pressure, causing many to exit the market. Nevertheless, the RWA group managed to attract continued interest from both retail and institutional investors.
Data from RWA.xyz shows that the number of asset holders has increased by 103.7% in the past month, reflecting increased engagement, even as market confidence has weakened.
According to data from the co-founder of Plume.
The RWA market is driven by interest from various groups in on-chain assets linked to real-world entities. A certain level of confidence has emerged amid an uncertain environment between bear and bull markets.
While the overall economic downturn continues, Yin emphasized that investors are becoming more cautious about volatility and the sustainability of returns in the decentralized finance market. In contrast, RWAs are increasingly seen as a source of increasingly stable returns.
As the yield rates from DeFi face pressure and the economy is still filled with uncertainty, tokenized treasury instruments or private credit look increasingly interesting when considering appropriate risk.
He also pointed to the rapid growth of stablecoins this year as compelling evidence of the market's shift toward stability, which is particularly evident among institutional players.
Since stablecoins are the foundation for entering RWA, the subsequent development of yield coins and the opportunity to earn returns from these RWAs follows. Everyone is looking for high-quality assets that provide safe, consistent, and reliable returns. Stablecoins are what attract people in. The opportunity to generate returns drives both institutions and retail investors towards these assets, Yin said to BeInCrypto.
While investors continue to prioritize stability, Yin also acknowledged that one of the major concerns regarding RWA is the perception that it may increase KYC risks and legal compliance.
However, he argued that tokenizing assets can actually enhance regulatory control, as identity verification, access permissions, and transfer restrictions can become programmable at the asset level.
Without relying on the fragmented regulatory compliance processes outside the network, issuers can enforce rules directly within the token through real-time verification, automated reporting, and immutable audit trails.
RWAs are expected to remain a key theme in the next market cycle.
Meanwhile, even though RWAs continue to gain popularity this year, Yin stated that this industry is likely to remain a focal point in both traditional finance and decentralized finance in the next market cycle.
He noted that currently, most RWA value is still concentrated in tokenized T-bills. However, as time goes on and markets grow, Yin expects increased utilization of private credit and a wider variety of alternative assets.
These may include earning returns from tokenized mining rights, such as oil. They may also relate to GPUs, energy infrastructure, and other real-world resources.
Winners will be those who see these opportunities, not just those who do the same things that have worked before, this executive commented.
Meanwhile, last month, Coinbase Ventures highlighted RWA perpetuals as one of the categories they are looking to support funding for in 2026, which demonstrates strong confidence. Yin also revealed that the company has a positive stance towards RWA perpetuals continuously.
Yin stated that perpetuals often generate significantly higher trading volumes than the spot market, largely because they provide a better user experience. He explained that perps are very user-friendly; participants can easily open positions in their desired direction and can also use leverage.
Plume has always said that the way to make RWA on-chain successful is to make RWA suitable for users familiar with the on-chain world by putting RWA into a UX that crypto users are accustomed to. For spot assets, this means making it unrestricted, interoperable with other protocols, and providing liquidity, which is what we have done with the RWA Nest yield protocol on Plume. Another way crypto users interact with assets is through perps, so we have a positive and excited view of this format and what it will create for RWA, he explained.
Yin also points to the increasing innovation of real-world yield, claiming it is changing the way everyone accesses and trades yields on the network.
For example, Yin mentioned Pendle, stating that the separation of principal and yield in this protocol has created a new market structure for RWA cash flows that have been tokenized.
Beyond specific protocols, Yin stated that RWA is gaining traction across multiple blockchain ecosystems.
The RWA wave in Solana is showing how rapid, programmable returns can be accessed by millions of users, he said.
Yin added that the speed and transaction volume of Solana make this network one of the few capable of supporting high-frequency yield generation operations at large scale. This capability is becoming increasingly important as RWA evolves from passive income generation tools to an economy focused on trading and yield generation.
The experiments taking place there serve as a preview of the next chapter in the RWA sector. Tools that bring RWA on-chain in a crypto-native way are therefore an exciting point, and certainly, RWA perps are one of those categories. However, there are also new asset types like sports cards/pokemon with Tradible, as well as new fintech like insurance with Cork, and many more, he said.
In addition to this expansion, Yin emphasized that the integration of regulations and laws will remain important. He explained that projects focusing on compliance are likely to become long-term winners, especially as governments and large institutions begin to demand that regulatory safeguards are embedded within the system, including clearer standards for issuing on-chain assets.
The trend of the RWA sector in 2026.
Looking ahead, Yin identified three key growth drivers that he expects to take the RWA sector to new heights over the next 12 months, with the first being the acceptance and growth of RWA from the grassroots level.
Yin mentioned that the value of RWA has tripled over the past year. Additionally, the number of RWA holders has expanded more than sevenfold.
The Plume mainnet has launched, doubling the base of RWA holders, and he believes this number will continue to accelerate within the crypto-native community itself, since RWA is still just a small part of the total crypto-native market value, he said.
Secondly, Yin highlighted the increasing integration from above, both from institutions and regulators. As he explained, governments, financial institutions, and tech companies are now seriously focusing on tokenizing assets. However, even though these processes may take some time, Yin believes that if these projects materialize, they could bring billions of USD worth of assets onto the on-chain system.
Finally, the Plume executive mentioned the broader macroeconomic situation as another structural driver.
The ongoing macroeconomic situation has led people both off-chain and on-chain to continuously seek stable returns, and alternative assets continue to gain prominence. These two factors pave the way for organic growth of on-chain RWA. He shared this with BeInCrypto.
Yin summarized that there is currently no reason to expect the momentum to slow down, considering the many existing catalysts, as he pointed out.
If we are to see 10-20 times growth, both in terms of value and user numbers next year, it is still only the beginning of what to expect.
For this reason, RWA is being positioned more as a long-term structural change than just a short-term trend in 2026, as adoption increases, a wider variety of assets emerge, and stronger integration occurs. This sector seems ready to play an important role in the next phase of on-chain growth.
