Tokenizing the real world: The promises and perils of RWA in Hong Kong

As Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Bill gets set to take effect, the RWA boom is arriving ahead of schedule — turning the city into a live experiment in on-chain finance

By Lee Shih Ta

As Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Bill gets set to take effect in August, the global spotlight is returning to the Asian financial hub. The legislation formalizes rules for issuing stablecoin and opens a regulatory gateway for Real-World Assets (RWA) to access mainstream financial markets.

RWA refers to tangible, deliverable physical assets, like commodities, real estate, and commercial papers, that have been verified, digitized, and tokenized via blockchain technology. Unlike purely virtual assets, RWA enhances transparency, liquidity, and access to financing within the real economy. It bridges the gap between traditional finance and crypto markets, while offering investors exposure to assets with real-world value.

The significance of the Stablecoin Bill for RWA lies in its legal foundation for digital settlement and clearing systems. Without stablecoins, there would be no programmable, real-time, on-chain trading environment for RWA to scale meaningfully. Conversely, stablecoins without asset-backed use cases or tangible economic anchoring struggle to gain traction or trust. RWA thus provides both the backing and the application context that can enhance stablecoins’ credibility and utility as a medium of settlement.

Since June 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the city’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau have supported multiple pilot projects for stablecoins and RWA, with participants including the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Exchanges, HashKey and Ant Digital Technologies, the technology arm of Alibaba’s Ant Group.

In addition, several export-oriented enterprises in key trading Mainland Chinese provinces such as Zhejiang and Shandong have begun tokenizing assets like aluminum ingots, copper plates, and sugar through partnered platforms to facilitate financing and advance settlement for overseas orders.

According to estimates by Boston Consulting Group, the global tokenization market could reach $16 trillion by 2030 — roughly three times the current market value of gold.

Market heats up

Capital markets have responded swiftly. Hong Kong-listed firms such as Synagistics (9993.HK), GL-Carlink Technology (8279.HK), and DL Holdings (1709.HK) have all recently announced plans to enter the stablecoin and RWA space. Be it applying for licenses, signing MOUs, or simply stating “interest in exploring opportunities,” such moves have triggered surges in company stock prices.

Some experts have warned that current “stablecoin concept stocks” have significantly deviated from their fundamentals. Driven by short-term speculative capital from Mainland China, shares of many companies are being aggressively bid up based only on partnership intentions or unconfirmed rumors. Without concrete project implementation, these stocks are likely to face corrections once the new regulatory policies officially come into effect in August.

In reality, RWA — as the foundational infrastructure connecting asset verification with on-chain finance — serves as a true test of whether companies possess real industrial use cases and transaction demand. Enterprises engaged in physical goods trading, warehousing and logistics, cross-border settlement, and blockchain deployment are expected to have a stronger competitive edge in this transformation.

Meanwhile, fintech platforms can leverage their existing user bases and technical capabilities to build tokenization and settlement systems. For example, Finloop Finance Technology, the fintech arm of Fosun International (0656.HK), recently launched an integrated RWA platform called FRP. According to Finloop, after tokenizing money market funds, the next wave will likely include bonds, higher-rated funds, and commercial papers — with physical assets following later. In the next two to three years, standardized financial products are expected to be the preferred RWA category in the market.

With the Stablecoin Bill taking effect in August, Hong Kong may be on the cusp of a new era — one defined not by hype but by asset-backed, on-chain financial innovation grounded in the real economy. But in this race to redefine digital finance, the winners will not be those who run the fastest, but those who build with purpose and substance.

Lee Shih Ta is an editor at Bamboo Works.

You can contact him at shihtalee@thebambooworks.com

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