Ethereum is winning the RWA battle

Author: Ryan Sean Adams and Jack Inabinet Source: Bankless Translation: Shan Oppa, Bitchain Vision

Ethereum is winning the war on real-world assets (RWA), and no other chain can match it.RWAs operate like a flywheel: the more liquidity, the more attractive it is, and institutions will also chase funds.The dominant force here is the power law, and Ethereum’s network effect plays a role in three levels: superior, better, and optimal:

• excellent= Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

• Better= Ethereum L2

• Optimal= Ethereum L1

Let’s dive into different categories of RWAs and the dominance of Ethereum in each field

Stablizecurrency

Stablecoins are the largest RWA category—of all on-chain RWAs,90%All are stablecoins.Stablecoins are the most mature RWA category, and since RWAs rely on the liquidity of stablecoins, they usually develop synchronously.

Ethereum L1 already has near$160 billionstablecoin.This accounts for all stablecoins57%(This is amazing data in itself) If all stablecoins issued by EVM compatible chains are added, the market share will reach95%.

This means that95%Stablecoins are consolidating Ethereum’s existing network effects.Even the latest and most eye-catching stablecoin-focused networks like Stripe’s Tempo, Circle’s Arc and Tether’s Plasma all use EVM.

Well-known stablecoin issuers have existing centralized players—such asCircleandTether(A total of US$130 billion of stablecoins were issued on Ethereum) – There is also a decentralized protocol –EthenaandSkyLeading (a total of $24 billion of stablecoins was issued on Ethereum).

Trump is also passingWorld Liberty FinancialThe USD1 stablecoin deploys digital dollars on Ethereum, which already has$275 millionThe market value,$2.2 billionUSD1 of the presence of other EVM chains.

Stablecoins have long been considered the lifeblood of on-chain economies, and they are increasingly driving the real-world economy.Whether it isDaily paymentstillBillions of dollars in deals, average people and the world’s largest funds are turning to stablecoins to simplify payments.

In the stablecoin field, EVM is dominant and its momentum is growing.Winning the stablecoin competition means winning RWAs, and Ethereum’s network effect in the stablecoin space has alreadyShocking.

Source: RWA.xyz

Treasury bonds

Treasury bonds are global reserve assets, while Ethereum is the on-chain home for Treasury bonds.

Ethereum L1 is locked$5.2 billionThe government bond products occupy70%market share.If the wider EVM ecosystem is included, the industry’s dominance will reach86%.

Many big-name companies in the traditional financial asset management field have launched their own tokenized treasury bond products on Ethereum.

Once served as investment manager of the Federal ReserveBlackRockByBUIDLWin the title of the largest publisher, a design for institutions$2.2 billionOn-chain money market fund, which maintains a stable $1 value and pays daily interest directly to the wallet (90% on Ethereum).

Traditional financial brokerage firmsFidelityRecently, it has also joined the tokenized treasury bond field.Earlier this month, it casts value$203 millionFDIT (on-chain representation of Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund) and is specially deployed on Ethereum L1.

For all other tokenized Treasury Issuers that follow, the logic is simple:If you choose to deploy on Ethereum, no one will be fired.The pioneers have already opened the way to recognize the strengths of this chain and require world-leading liquidity.

That’s why Ethereum now has34 kindsDifferent Treasury products (more than twice the number of the second-ranked network).

Source: RWA.xyz

gold

Ethereum L1 is close$2 billionThe destination of tokenized gold, accounting for the global tokenized gold78%.If EVM chain is added, this ratio jumps to99.96%, which marks the absolute dominance of Ethereum.

Gold prices have risen since the end of August10%.While we are seeing greater daily volatility in ETH, it is clear that we are in another stage of the gold 2025 uptrend.

During this period, industry leadersPaxos (PAXG)andTether (XAUT)The total value of tokenized gold issued surged.PAXG is only available on the Ethereum network, and99.9%XAUT is also released on L1.

and$231 billionGold ETF market or estimate$27.4 trillionCompared with the market value of physical gold, the tokenized gold market has just begun.But when large gold institutions decide to tokenize (e.g.BlackRock’s iShares Gold ETF) When repeatedly verified Ethereum will be the obvious place to deploy.

If you are optimistic about gold on the chain, you are optimistic about Ethereum.

Source: RWA.xyz

stock

Tokenized stocks are the youngest RWA market, and their development is limited by the regulatory uncertainty brought about by putting stocks on the chain.

Today, the tokenized stock market is small in size and its value is only$420 million.This is also the only RWA category in which Ethereum does not have a significant lead.Ethereum L1 only carries15%on-chain stocks, which form a rare exception to its usual RWA dominance.

However, with a closer look, the leading competitorsAlgorandandXRPThey only own one stock, while Ethereum has200.also,Exodus Movement(The only stock on Algorand) RecentAnnounceEquity will be issued on Ethereum (and Solana).

If Algorand and XRP are excluded from competition, Ethereum L1 will control all tokenized stocks44%, followed bySolana, proportion30%.

Data source RWA.xyz

Solana has a chance here?Maybe there is, but consider the resistance it faces.

Just like tokenized Treasury bonds, many top tokenized stock issuers have chosen Ethereum L1 as their destination.

A typical example is a recent deploymentOndo Global Markets, it has been issued value$63 millionTokenized vouchers, corresponding to 103 different single stocks, stock indexes and ETFs—andonlyAvailable on the Ethereum L1 network.

also,Robinhood,eToroandCoinbaseAll are preparing to launch tokenized securities.Once the SEC gives the green light tokenized stocks, it is very likely that they will issue these securities on the proprietary Ethereum L2…

The ultimate game of network effects

Traditional finance also shows a clear network effect.The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the world’s largest exchange, accounts for more than a quarter of the global stock market value and carries most of the major U.S. companies.

Source: New York Stock Exchange

Wall Street’s industry organizations haveStart the experimentEVM-based technology in order to realize asset tokenization.In this context, it is hard to imagine that any other chain can defeat Ethereum’s far-reaching network effects.

• Ethereum L1 controls$160 billionRWAs(79%market share)

• Adding Ethereum L2s, this number rises to$185 billion(86%market share)

• If all EVM chains are included, “Ethereum” accounts for a total of$200 billion(93%market share)

in other words:

• 93%RWAs at leastExcellent for Ethereum

• 86%RWAs at leastIt’s better for Ethereum

• 79%RWAsIt’s the best for Ethereum

That’s why people like Tom Lee would say institutions are being built on Ethereum.Because that’s the case.

Ethereum is winning the game of RWAs, and no other chain can match it.

But what if EVM wins, Ethereum doesn’t win?

Some people still believe that EVM will win, but Ethereum won’t.

They would point to the licensed enterprise chains that build standalone L1 EVMs and exclaim: “Look! They are building a better version of Ethereum.”

However, every centralized EVM chain will only consolidate Ethereum’s leading position.All enterprise chains agree to use Ethereum to ensure security and neutrality, and in this regard, no chain can compete with it.

But what if Ethereum wins, ETH doesn’t win?

Others believe that RWAs will not add value to the asset ETH and assume that this sector will not directly increase Ethereum’s revenue.

However, if Ethereum becomes the world’s ledger, it is not whimsical to replace other storage means of value such as Bitcoin and gold.

In a world lacking original collateral, Ethereum is in a unique position of success: It hasDeflation mechanism,Value-added supply dynamics,andNo opponent’s risk.

Once the market understands this powerful trinity, the whole world will understand the truth.

Ethereum = World ledgerETH = World Reserve Assets