The RWA market has great prospects, Aptos is emerging.

Real World Asset Tokenization (RWA) is a highly anticipated area in the cryptocurrency industry, yet it has not fully demonstrated its ability to connect traditional markets with massive assets. Data shows that the total market value of RWA assets in the cryptocurrency industry is only $24 billion, which remains at a low level despite a significant 56% growth in the first half of this year. This indicates that the development of RWA is still in its early stages, and with more types of assets being tokenized in the future, RWA is expected to usher in new development opportunities.

At this critical time, Aptos has shown strong growth momentum. In the past 30 days, the Total Value Locked (TVL) of RWA on the Aptos blockchain has grown by 56.4%, reaching $538 million, rising to the third position among public chains. With the addition of more DeFi projects, RWA assets in the Aptos ecosystem are likely to welcome more investment opportunities, positioning them favorably in the future RWA competition.

Private Credit: The Main Drivers of RWA

Currently, private credit accounts for 58% of RWA assets, making it the most关注的 asset class, followed by U.S. Treasury bonds. Private credit assets mainly exist in on-chain form and largely lack trading liquidity; meanwhile, U.S. Treasury bonds face competitive pressure from interest-bearing stablecoins that are collateralized by Treasury bonds and offer similar yield characteristics.

Private credit refers to loans provided by non-bank institutions or investors to businesses or individuals in the private market. In the traditional financial sector, private credit attracts a large number of institutional investors due to its flexibility and high returns. However, it also faces issues such as high costs, low efficiency, and access restrictions. For example, the auditing process for traditional private credit is cumbersome, transaction costs are high, and small and medium-sized enterprises often find it difficult to obtain financing due to a lack of credit histories.

The encryption protocol acts as an intermediary, with the core business model of issuing and managing assets on-chain, reducing costs by eliminating multiple layers of intermediaries, and increasing transparency by providing real-time performance of loan pools and underlying assets.

Private Credit Asset Tokenization Process

1. Off-chain credit asset generation

The asset issuer is responsible for generating off-chain credit assets. Private credit institutions, small and medium-sized enterprise financing platforms, or regional credit market operators establish loan agreements, set guarantee assets, create repayment plans and default terms, and review the borrower's financial status. For example, a loan of $1 million is issued to a logistics company, with a term of 12 months and an annual interest rate of 12%, secured by $1.1 million in accounts receivable. This step ensures that the assets meet traditional financial standards, laying the foundation for subsequent tokenization.

2. Building the On-chain Token Structure

Through the RWA protocol, single or multiple loans are mapped to on-chain tokens. The token forms include NFT, SFT, or ERC-20 type. The token metadata covers borrower anonymous identification, principal amount, interest rate, repayment frequency, maturity date, collateral asset details, and default handling mechanisms. Smart contracts support repayment status management, automatic yield distribution, and early redemption or peer-to-peer transfer.

3. Compliance Packaging

The tokenization process must comply with regulatory requirements. Establish special purpose vehicles (SPVs) or virtual asset service providers (VASPs) as legal custodians in appropriate jurisdictions, corresponding to on-chain tokens. All investors must complete KYC/KYB and AML reviews, and non-qualified investors are restricted in access and transfer rights according to relevant regulations. Off-chain disclosure documents clearly state that tokens are debt assets, without accompanying voting rights or equity attributes.

4. Token Issuance and Financing

Display tokens through the user interface or protocol platform, and accept on-chain investments. Investors must complete KYC verification, invest using cryptocurrency, receive RWA tokens as proof, and receive repayment principal and interest on a monthly or quarterly basis.

5. Profit Distribution and Asset Liquidation

The borrower repays according to the plan, and the funds are collected by the issuer and transferred to the SPV, then mapped on-chain through oracles or smart contracts, and distributed to token holders. The smart contract automatically splits the interest based on the holding ratio, and upon loan maturity, it automatically returns the principal or arranges for asset renewal. If the token structure allows, it can be traded on decentralized exchanges or RWA-specific markets, but usually has a lock-up period and only supports peer-to-peer transfers.

Aptos's Competitive Advantage in the RWA Track

Technical Advantages: Financial Application Potential of High-Performance Blockchain

Aptos, as a new generation Layer 1 blockchain, has its technical architecture as a unique advantage in the RWA space, especially in the scenario of tokenizing private credit.

High throughput and low latency

Aptos uses the Block-STM parallel execution engine to achieve efficient transaction processing. Official testing data shows that Aptos's theoretical throughput can reach 150,000 transactions per second (TPS), with actual production environments stabilizing at 4,000-5,000 TPS. In private credit scenarios, high throughput supports large-scale loan issuance, real-time repayment distribution, and on-chain auditing, ensuring transaction efficiency.

The final confirmation time for transactions on Aptos is only 650 milliseconds. This sub-second confirmation speed is crucial for RWA assets that require instant settlement. For example, a certain protocol implements T+0 settlement on Aptos, significantly reducing the capital occupancy costs compared to traditional finance's T+2 or T+3.

Low trading costs

The average transaction fee on Aptos is less than $0.01. The low-cost characteristic is particularly crucial for RWA scenarios, as tokenized assets involve frequent on-chain operations. Low fees ensure that operational costs are manageable.

Modular Architecture and Scalability

Aptos's modular design separates the consensus, execution, and storage layers, allowing each layer to be optimized independently. This is crucial for RWA asset management, as private credit involves complex metadata.

Ecological Layout: Institutional Endorsement and Regulatory Friendly

Aptos has significantly enhanced its competitiveness in the RWA sector through partnerships with traditional financial giants and the expansion of the DeFi ecosystem.

Institutional Cooperation and Endorsement

As of June 2025, the total locked value (TVL) of Aptos's RWA reached 540 million USD, ranking third among public chains, only behind Ethereum and ZKsync Era. This achievement is attributed to the participation of several traditional financial institutions.

In July last year, Aptos introduced USDY from a financial company into its ecosystem and integrated it into major DEX and lending applications. In October last year, Aptos announced that an asset management company had launched an on-chain U.S. government money market fund represented by the BENJI token on the Aptos Network. In addition, Aptos also reached a partnership with a company to promote the tokenization of securities.

These collaborations not only brought funding and technical support to Aptos, but also enhanced its credibility in the field of compliance.

Regulatory Friendliness

Private credit tokenization involves complex compliance requirements, such as KYC/AML reviews and adherence to relevant regulations. Aptos has integrated on-chain identity verification and asset tracking features by collaborating with compliance platforms. For example, a certain protocol stores personal identity information through off-chain encryption and combines it with on-chain hash verification, meeting legal requirements and ensuring the legal validity of loan tokens.

In 2025, the global regulatory environment will gradually become clearer. The MiCA regulation in Europe provides a clear framework for crypto assets, while relevant bills in the United States create favorable conditions for stablecoins and RWA projects. Aptos's low fees and fast confirmation features make it an ideal choice for a regulatory-friendly public chain. For example, Aptos has been selected by a state as the top technical scoring candidate chain for a stablecoin project and plans to issue compliant stablecoins and loan tokens using Aptos, with an expected coverage of $100 million in assets by 2026.

Emerging Market Positioning

Aptos's RWA strategy focuses on emerging markets, particularly in areas with inadequate financial inclusion. A certain company, as a major asset issuer, provides diversified financing solutions for emerging markets and specific regions through tokenized private credit products, significantly promoting the development of Aptos's RWA ecosystem.

Its flagship products target individual consumers and micro-operators in emerging markets, offering short-term, small consumption loans and revolving credit lines, with a scale of 160 million USD. The loan amount ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars, with terms of 3 to 12 months and interest rates as high as 64.05%. There is also a special pool for bad debts or default loans, scaled at 188 million USD, limited to qualified investors. Additionally, there are products aimed at residential mortgage loans in Canada, with a scale of 44 million USD, divided into senior and subordinate structures. For micro-enterprises in the UAE, there are operational loan products with a scale of 16 million USD and an interest rate of 15.48%. There are also products targeting the retail credit market in Kenya, with a scale of 5.6 million USD and an interest rate of 115.45%.

These products achieve efficient issuance and transparent management through on-chain infrastructure, contributing 77% of Aptos RWA TVL (approximately 420 million USD).

Summary

Aptos's rapid rise in the RWA sector is attributed to its technological advantages and ecosystem layout. By June 2025, its RWA TVL reached $538 million, ranking third among public chains, primarily driven by private credit. A certain protocol contributed over $420 million in assets (accounting for 77% of Aptos RWA) by launching an on-chain debt pool, significantly enhancing its competitive edge. As a growth engine for RWA, private credit achieves on-chain composability through tokenization, allowing credit tokens to participate in the circular lending, leverage strategies, and liquidity pools of DeFi protocols, generating annualized returns of 6%-15%. Compared to government bonds, private credit is more favored in the market due to its high returns and clear cash flows. Aptos's low transaction fees and fast confirmation times support real-time lending and settlement, and future integrations with more DeFi protocols may further activate its potential.

Currently, the interest rate spread in traditional financial markets is tightening, prompting institutions to turn to on-chain solutions. Aptos is filling the financing gap for small and medium-sized enterprises by serving emerging markets. In the future, with the optimization of the regulatory environment and the expansion of the DeFi ecosystem, Aptos is expected to add 500 million USD in RWA TVL by 2026. Through the synergy of technology and ecosystem, Aptos is demonstrating sustained growth potential in the private credit sector.