As institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are emerging as the connective tissue between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). No longer just an experiment, RWAs are now backed by clear legal frameworks, maturing infrastructure, and real commercial traction.

Held in Hong Kong, “RWA Unlocked: Where TradFi Meets DeFi” convened thought leaders across the compliance, art, infrastructure, and fintech spectrum to explore the next phase of this convergence. Hosted by Cobo and ArtWise, sponsored by Kiln, and organized by HashKey Group, the panel discussion brought together innovators building the rails for tokenized finance.

Kiln: Turning Stablecoin Idle Capital into Compliant Yield

Cherry Yim (middle), Sales Director APAC at Kiln, opened the discussion with a clear signal: RWAs are already here, and trusted names like BlackRock, BNY Mellon, and Visa are paving the way through tokenized treasuries and pilot programs.

Kiln’s focus? Helping institutions activate idle stablecoin capital, 94% of which currently earns no yield. With over $150M TVL and integrations with Ledger, Trust Wallet, and Crypto.com, Kiln’s staking and earn infrastructure bridges the gap between wallets and DeFi yield protocols—securely and compliantly.

On compliance, Cherry emphasized that designing regulated yield products means embedding:

• KYC/AML onboarding

• Sanction screening and wallet filtering

• On-chain surveillance and suspicious activity reporting

“Regulatory clarity is no longer the bottleneck—it’s the catalyst,” she noted, citing MiCA and evolving U.S. rules as the green light for institutional deployment at scale.

ArtWise: From Blue-Chip Art to On-Chain Collateral

Grace Lau (second from left), Founder of ArtWise, reminded the room that tokenization is not just about innovation—it’s about legal enforceability and market credibility. ArtWise transforms fine art into structured, tokenized assets built on custodial trusts and traditional lending frameworks.

Key principles guiding ArtWise’s approach:

• Asset-first compliance: Only tokenize art with verified provenance and legal clarity

• Dual-layer governance: Smart contracts that link directly to off-chain legal documents

• Private bank readiness: Products structured for institutional investors, not speculation

“Masterpieces can now trade as fluidly as bonds—without compromising compliance,” Grace stated, highlighting how Hong Kong’s regulatory stance enables this transformation.

Asseto: Building Asia’s Institutional Tokenization Layer

Joyce Cui (far right), Business Development Partner at Asseto, positioned the company as Asia’s premier tokenization platform—already live with cash management RWAs and expanding rapidly into funds, private credit, real estate, and tokenized gold.

With a seasoned team from global TradFi institutions and deep partnerships—including two entities preparing for a Hong Kong stablecoin license—Asseto is setting the benchmark for scalable, compliance-first tokenization in the region.

“We’re not waiting for regulation to catch up—we’re building with it from day one.”

Asseto’s integration of TradFi practices into DeFi-native architecture offers institutions the familiarity they require, with the flexibility Web3 enables.

Man Kun Advisory: Legal Architecture Is the True Infrastructure

Dr. Jen (second from right), Head of Overseas Compliance Advisory at Man Kun Law Firm, drove home the legal underpinnings of tokenization. Rather than needing entirely new laws, RWA products succeed when they use existing frameworks—private credit, secured lending, and custodial models—adapted for blockchain.

Key compliance insights:

• Start with assets that have legal clarity (e.g., short-term debt, tokenized equity)

• Encode obligations in smart contracts that hold up under regulatory scrutiny

• Anchor on-chain logic with off-chain reporting and auditability

“Smart contracts don’t replace law—they reinforce it when structured right,” she said.

Cobo: Secure Wallet Infrastructure as the Gateway to Institutional DeFi

Ezreal Kung (far left), Head of Business Development at Cobo, emphasized that the convergence of traditional and decentralized finance is no longer theoretical. Instead, it’s unfolding now, with real-world asset (RWA) tokenization as the catalyst.

Quoting Hong Kong’s Policy Statement 2.0 on Digital Assets, he highlighted how the region’s regulatory advances signal a tipping point for institutional involvement and asset digitization.

At Cobo, Ezreal sees RWAs as the foundation for a new financial era, where:

• Liquidity is unlocked through fractional ownership of tokenized bonds, real estate, and credit instruments.

• Compliance meets innovation, as maturing regulatory frameworks make secure, on-chain engagement possible.

• Wallet Infrastructure becomes the bridge, connecting institutional actors with programmable assets on public blockchains.

“The question isn’t if RWAs will reshape finance,” he concluded, “but how fast; and who’s ready to lead, not just follow.”

Conclusion: RWAs Move from Hype to Infrastructure

What began as a speculative trend has evolved into a pragmatic, regulatory-compliant movement. From tokenized treasuries to fractionalized fine art, RWAs are becoming investable, provable, and tradable—on-chain.

Hong Kong, with its emerging stablecoin regime and policy clarity, is quickly becoming a launchpad for tokenized finance in Asia.

For any institution exploring the space, the question is no longer “if” RWAs matter—it’s:

Are you architecting the wallet, custody, and compliance infrastructure to support them?

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