If there was one area of crypto that quietly made real progress in 2025, it was real-world assets. While much of the market spent the year chopping around, RWA projects were busy building things that actually worked.
Tokenized bonds, funds, and financial products didn’t just stay in test phases. They went live, attracted capital, and started being used the way they were always supposed to be.
As Dami-Defi pointed out, ignoring RWAs in 2025 meant missing a big part of what genuinely moved the industry forward. And among all the projects involved, ONDO, Chainlink, and Avalanche clearly separated themselves from the pack.
What you'll learn 👉
How ONDO Made Tokenized Treasuries Mainstream
ONDO breakout year came down to execution. The protocol expanded its USDY product to around $2 billion in total value, supported by major institutional backing, including BlackRock.
That wasn’t just a flashy number. It showed that institutions are increasingly comfortable using blockchain infrastructure to access traditional financial products like U.S. Treasuries.
ONDO didn’t stop there. It rolled out cross-chain pools on networks such as Solana and Base, making its products more accessible. The project also secured roughly $500 million in institutional inflows tied to tokenized T-Bills.
On the regulatory side, ONDO picked up EU approval for tokenized stocks and ETFs, which helped legitimize the entire model. In a year where compliance mattered more than hype, ONDO delivered.
If you’re ignoring RWA, you’re ignoring half of what actually advanced in crypto in 2025.
— Dami-Defi (@DamiDefi) December 25, 2025
2025 Milestones For RWA Protocols:$ONDO: Expanded USDY to $2B TVL via BlackRock, launched cross-chain pools on Solana/Base, secured $500M institutional inflows for T-Bills, received EU… pic.twitter.com/vyIj0WwczZ
Why Chainlink Became Core RWA Infrastructure
Chainlink’s impact on RWAs in 2025 went far beyond oracles. The network steadily positioned itself as essential infrastructure for regulated on-chain finance. Being selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide on-chain macro data was a big signal that Chainlink’s role now extends well beyond crypto-native use cases.
Chainlink also pushed forward on the tech side, launching Confidential Compute and the Chainlink Runtime Environment to support more secure and compliant applications.
Its involvement with the SEC’s crypto task force and its win at the Swift Global Fintech Hackathon showed how deeply embedded it’s become in traditional finance discussions.
The announcement of a regulated Chainlink ETF reinforced the idea that LINK is now viewed as an institutional-grade asset.
Avalanche Proved Scale Matters for RWAs
Avalanche strength in 2025 came from its ability to scale without slowing down. The network handled daily transaction counts as high as 2.5 million while keeping DeFi activity strong, with total value locked around $5 billion. Hundreds of new applications launched throughout the year, many focused on tokenization and institutional finance.
Major names like SkyBridge used Avalanche to tokenize roughly $300 million in hedge funds, while Securitize built a pan-European tokenization system on the network.
Avalanche also saw a Grayscale S-1 filing for an AVAX ETF, Visa integrated stablecoin infrastructure, and the C-Chain hit an all-time high of about 65 million unique wallets. That combination of scale, adoption, and regulatory traction helped Avalanche stand out.
Read Also: Top Analyst Starts Accumulating Chainlink (LINK) Again Amid Market Panic: Here’s What He Sees
Why 2025 Changed the RWA Story
What set 2025 apart wasn’t speculation. It was delivered. Real-world assets moved out of pilot programs and into real use, backed by institutions, regulation, and meaningful capital.
ONDO showed tokenized treasuries can scale. Chainlink proved compliant on-chain data and execution are possible. Avalanche demonstrated that blockchains can support institutional demand at scale.
Together, these projects didn’t just perform well in 2025. They helped change how crypto is actually used. And heading into the next cycle, RWAs no longer feel like a side trend. They look like a core part of the industry’s future.
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