Envisioning RWA+ New Narratives in Gaming: Will It Become the Engine of This Bull Run?

Is the bull run here?

Standing in November 2025 and looking back at the magnificent cryptocurrency market over the past two years, one might be surprised to find that October 23, 2023, could be a typical marker for the start of this bull run: within 24 hours, BTC surged directly from 30,000U to 34,000U. Many of my friends who had heavily invested around 20,000U were overjoyed: "Look, I told you the crypto bull run would definitely come!" Meanwhile, some friends who missed the opportunity and are still conflicted continue to insist: "The current on-chain data shows no new money entering the market, and the total supply of stablecoins is still at a low point. This is a fake bull run amplified by the Bitcoin ETF news, and there will be a wave of correction!"

The viewpoint of "The bull has arrived" is very clear, and the three major benefits in the future are enough to support the bull run:

1. Bitcoin ETF accelerates the influx of funds from traditional financial institutions;

2. Bitcoin will undergo a halving in May 2024, with mining costs rising to over 28000;

3. The United States does not raise interest rates and may even lower them;

Whether it's a real bull or a fake bull, what I've been pondering is: to support a genuine bull run that lasts at least 12 months, there must be a new narrative of evolution across the entire industry. The three favorable factors supporting the bull run mentioned above, the first and third are external forces, while the second is the four-year halving rule that everyone on Earth knows since the release of the BTC white paper. So what are the new industry narratives that can support this bull run? If one doesn't develop properly and only relies on external information and policies, it is highly likely to be a fleeting moment.

Let's take a look at the development trajectory of the last bull run: starting from the summer of DeFi in July 2020, Bitcoin took off from around 10,000 U, with DeFi being a major innovation in the industry that simulated part of the functions of the real-world financial system using smart contracts, allowing for collateralized earning, decentralized trading, and derivatives, among others; then some influencers began to promote it; subsequently, the applications of NFT and Gamefi 1.0 emerged, enabling many novice users to enter the space without having to learn the knowledge-intensive DEFI, allowing them to play and, importantly, also get rich; finally, the concept of the metaverse gained popularity, with Facebook rebranding itself as Meta. The bull run peaked in November 2021, with Bitcoin's price reaching 69,000 U.

The new narrative of this bull run

Did you see it? At least Defi, NFT, Gamefi 1.0, and the metaverse are the four innovations that served as evolutionary points for the crypto industry in the last bull run. So what are the new evolutionary points in this bull run, which we often refer to as the new narrative? Let's summarize:

1. SocialFi decentralized social networking, a case in point is the recently emerging Friend.Tech;

2. Chain Game 2.0 is a web 2.5 chain game: assets are on-chain while the game is centralized, focusing on highly playable games, and then leveraging on-chain assets.

3. RWA (Real World Asset), a massive track that can connect the vast old money of WEB2 with the crypto industry, has also been repeatedly mentioned in the HK crypto circle these days, and Depin is one of the RWA tracks.

4. The rise of the Bitcoin ecosystem, after all, whether in WEB2 or WEB3, BTC has been viewed as a value store similar to gold. Why not do something with it? Gold can be used to create various derivatives in the financial industry.

Today, let's focus on the third point RWA, because I have always felt that RWA is an extension narrative of the last bull run's engine, Defi. Think about it, DEFI is just using code to generate a bunch of virtual currencies, then playing with them using smart contracts, simulating the real financial system. It's like children playing house, with a dad, a mom, pots and pans, and rice, oil, and salt, BUT, what impact does this have on the real world? None! Currently, among the virtual currencies, except for BTC which has some consensus in the WEB2 world, others are seen as air by outsiders. So what’s the meaning of a bunch of extremely complex operations based on air?

Does this mean that Defi is meaningless? Not at all! It can only be said that the DEFI that started during the last bull run is just the first half of this new narrative. It established the venue, rules, and direction for participation, just like preparing a full-course banquet; DEFI has arranged the kitchen, utensils, and chefs for you, and now we just need the ingredients to officially start cooking. Therefore, I understand RWA as the second half of DEFI, similar to the two parts of "A Chinese Odyssey," "The Moonlight Box" and "The Monkey King Takes a Bride"; both need to be viewed together to appreciate their beauty.

3. How to Navigate RWA

What is RWA? The full name is Real World Asset, which translates completely to "tokenization of real-world assets". RWA corresponds to assets in the real world and can also be divided into tangible assets and intangible assets based on the type of underlying assets. Tangible assets mainly include real estate, bulk commodities, art, etc.; intangible assets include bonds, stocks, carbon credits, etc. Since RWA is based on real-world assets, it requires a legal-supported off-chain process for asset rights confirmation and value identification, followed by tokenization through DeFi protocols and circulation in the on-chain market, while monitoring the value changes of off-chain assets through oracles.

RWA actually already has some practical application cases. The stablecoins we often use in our daily lives (like USDT, USDC, etc.) are RWA. For example, the physical asset "Satoshi Island" and this year's hottest financial asset, RWA U.S. Treasury bonds, are all cases of on-chain token issuance supported by physical assets. In fact, the idea of a Bitcoin ETF is a reverse financial RWA, where WEB2 funds participate in Bitcoin investment through a compliant ETF financial product; whereas RWA U.S. Treasury bonds allow WEB3 funds to participate in U.S. Treasury investment without needing to withdraw funds, earning about 5% annually.

The 2018 wave of STO frenzy was a significant attempt at RWA in its early stages. During that time, there emerged a number of attempts to make traditional assets compliant and put them on the blockchain, along with a batch of Web3 startup projects aimed at this goal, such as tZERO, Polymath, Aspen, etc. Some case studies were also attempted, such as Aspen REIT, Resolute.Fund, and Fundament Group. However, due to various reasons like market conditions, economic cycles, and regulations, the STO market did not develop as smoothly as expected.

The current mainstream approach to RWA is relatively simple, which is to tokenize (Tokenization) in a way similar to securitization, allowing funds from the crypto space (such as various stablecoins) to have ownership or rights to the income of real-world physical assets or financial assets. This is a straightforward one-to-one correspondence, and ownership is also subject to the constraints of real-world laws. If we want to diversify the RWA experience and involve more users, we need to design better application scenarios for RWA. We believe that this will stand out in the current bull run and can be defined as the basic application infrastructure of RWA.

Imagine if, in a game scene similar to "Monopoly" or "The Sims", you entered a stock exchange, linked your wallet, and could actually use the game tokens or U in your wallet to buy Tesla stocks, enjoying the benefits it brings to you. Or, when we virtually travel to a city through gamified scenarios, we could conveniently purchase REIT shares of the city's landmark buildings and become one of the investors in physical assets. Isn't that exciting? Of course, here we only consider the user's product experience; regarding the laws and regulations and how to connect with the real securities sector, that would require a project party with good connections.

In fact, the RWA foundational application settings described above can be considered part of the metaverse in a broad sense. However, it is more hardcore in terms of security and connectivity to WEB2, so it needs to be separated out as a new narrative. Currently, it seems that RWA in gaming scenarios should attract more users to join. Not only can it link the tokens in the wallets of WEB3 players to the real world, but it also allows WEB2 players to experience the unique aspects of WEB3 products: there is no need to complete so many document signings in the real world; wallet connections are sufficient. The shares held are always reflected on-chain and can be traded at any time.

So the question arises, how can we facilitate a smoother transition for Web2 players into Web3, and help them recognize the new gameplay of RWA+ games? We can think from their perspective: when a Web2 user, who is in the real world, wants to enter the virtual world of RWA+Web3 or even the embryonic form of the metaverse, what kind of difficulties will they face, and what kind of demands will they have internally?

Firstly, they will be overwhelmed by the influx of Web3 information that they have never encountered before, with public chains, wallets, DeFi, and other basic knowledge appearing simple and clear at first glance, but being deeply complex and tangled, leaving them unsure of how to start. Then they will be attracted by various innovative projects and models in Web3, seeing one wealth myth after another, always eager to jump in, but afraid of becoming the next target and losing everything, so they seek advice from various sources, hoping to learn the true principles of Web3 investment or find reliable investment suggestions. Furthermore, they hope to find a truly enjoyable gaming experience in the virtual world of Web3, and even more, desire for the noble identity in the virtual world to extend into the real world, allowing them to participate in some high-end activities that have a sense of ceremony, achieving a full integration of online and offline.

The above imagination seems too good to be true, but it is indeed the most simple and fundamental wish in the hearts of most players transitioning from Web2 to Web3. So, are there any products or games in the market now that can meet or partially meet the above needs? We specifically searched the market and found the following cases for everyone’s reference.

Four, Case Studies of RWA+ Games

1. DeFi Kingdom

Do you want to learn about Web3 but find reading articles, studying white papers, and doing desktop research too tedious? Is there a product that allows you to learn Web3 knowledge while playing games? There is indeed such a project, DeFi Kingdom is one of them.

DeFi Kingdom is a product from the last bull run, a Play2Earn game based on a certain public blockchain. But it's not just a game; it's also a Dex and an NFT marketplace. The entire game map can be said to visualize and gamify the functions of a Dex and NFTs. For example, in the Gardens, players can provide LP through Druid and earn Jewel token rewards. In the Marketplace, users can purchase the main game token Jewel, stake it in the Jeweler bank to receive xJewel tokens, and enjoy a series of rights and governance privileges within the project, including participation in votes. Players can also use Trader to complete exchanges between Jewel tokens, certain public blockchain tokens, stablecoins, and other mainstream coins.

Another aspect of the game is the gameplay based on hero NFTs, including hero blind boxes, completing tasks for rewards, PVP battles, and so on. Users can purchase or rent heroes in the Tavern.