Recently, I've seen a bunch of phrases like "RWA on the chain" and "real assets coming in for more stable liquidity," which sound pretty warm, like storytelling around a campfire. But as soon as I look at the redemption terms, I get calm: what the chain gives you is a tradable note, and when it comes to actually getting your money back, you might have to wait in line, face a window period, or even trigger various restrictions... Anyway, it's not quite the same as just clicking to sell. The new L1/L2 incentives to boost TVL are similar—it's lively, but I can really empathize with old users complaining about "mining, then selling."

To put it simply, the biggest "liquidity illusion" of RWA is: trading volume in the secondary market ≠ underlying assets can be redeemed at any time. If the terms mention lock, gating, redemption window, this thing is more like a club ticket with a threshold, not a cash substitute. My current approach is pretty crude: first ask myself how long I can hold out without redeeming in the worst case, then decide whether to get in; otherwise, if a fire breaks out, don’t blame the chain for not showing mercy.