Tokenized treasuries have fueled growth in real-world assets (RWAs), but their future will largely depend on shifting interest rates. In a lower-rate environment, the appeal of tokenized treasuries may diminish as onchain yields outperform traditional finance, pushing users toward higher-yielding, crypto-native strategies. Despite this, there remains a substantial $5.5-$6 billion opportunity for tokenized treasuries to capture market share from stablecoins by targeting idle capital within DAOs, venture funds, and liquid assets. Using tokenized treasuries as collateral across trading venues could further bolster growth by converting stablecoins held on centralized exchanges into yield-bearing treasury assets, supporting RWA expansion. Looking ahead, a potential shift in capital flow offers another growth avenue for RWA protocols. Instead of merely bringing traditional finance assets onchain, RWAs could enable institutional investors to tap into crypto-specific yield opportunities, such as carry trades and decentralized lending. This broader strategy could reduce the reliance of RWAs on interest rate movements while attracting new capital into the crypto ecosystem.
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