RWA: Why Did On-Chain Treasuries Suddenly Become a 'New Gateway for Steady Yield'? What is the Underlying Logic of This Business?

Analyzes the background and underlying logic of the rise of RWA, explaining the structure and risks of tokenized assets like on-chain Treasuries.

{{{##anchor=part-1-rwa-hype-origins}}} 1. The Fever for RWA isn't a New Term Getting Popular, but Several Old Forces Colliding If you stretch the timeline a bit, you’ll find the timing for RWA's popularity is quite subtle: On one hand, the Federal Reserve pulled interest rates from near 0 to around 5%, making money market funds "hot" again; On the other hand, the crypto world pulled back from a high-volatility cycle. The money is still on-chain, and the people are still on-chain, but everyone’s appetite has clearly changed—from "is there a chance to gamble" to "is there a place where I can put money with peace of mind." The logic from traditional finance isn't complex either: institutional money cannot sit in demand deposits forever. Once rates rose, Treasuries, short-term bonds, and the money market naturally became the "standard answer" again. And on-chain, while stablecoins have solved the problem of "how to transfer and store USD," the next question— "If these stablecoins don't want to sit idle, is there a safer place with a yield that makes sense?" —was a blank space for a long time. Until RWA gradually reached scale, the needs of the on-chain world, off-chain world, regulator