I just attended a very interesting panel at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 about real-world tokenized assets, and there was something that caught my attention: institutions are already moving real money into this space, but retail is just starting to enter.

Those leading this are quite clear. Tokenized treasuries, money market funds, and collateral optimization are currently the main players. BlackRock with its BUIDL and some major players are demonstrating that this is no longer an experiment; it’s real utility. BlackRock’s COO even said that digital accounting books are the most exciting thing in finance since double-entry bookkeeping 700 years ago. Said like that, it sounds strong, but looking at the volume of tokenized Treasury bonds and stablecoins being traded, it’s not so far-fetched.

What surprised me most was seeing few participants raise their hands when asked who had RWAs tokenized in their wallets. I mean, we’re talking about a sector that’s taking off but where retail is still quite lagging behind. Institutions are involved in tokenized stocks, private credit, fractional real estate, but the average user still doesn’t see it as a viable option.

Europe is leading the way with clear regulations for listed tokenized stocks. That’s important because it opens the door for other markets to follow that model. What’s coming next could be huge: real estate, art, private equity. Especially because companies stay private longer and people want 24/7 fractional access to these assets.

Meanwhile, something curious happened with WLFI. The World Liberty Financial token dropped to $0.08, its lowest level since its launch in 2025. The 12.7% drop in 24 hours came after they defended a controversial lending strategy on Dolomite. They acknowledged using their own token in the strategy, which always stirs up noise in the market.

But back to the main topic: RWAs are moving from being a buzzword to having real utility. Once regulatory and access barriers are resolved, they could unlock trillions in markets that have so far been illiquid. The next wave of mass retail adoption could be the turning point for real-world tokenized assets to go mainstream.