By Zeus
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Core idea: Stablecoins are already RWAs because they are claims on offchain reserves.
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I want to talk about RWAs, but not in the way I usually do. I'm not going to focus on infrastructure, protocols, dashboards, or tickers.
I want to focus on something simpler: why stablecoins are already the most successful real world asset onchain, and why using them makes traditional banking feel outdated. Once you've experienced both systems side by side, it's hard to unsee the difference.
Most people don't realise this, but stablecoins are RWAs. They are claims on real dollars, short-term treasuries, and regulated reserves. They are backed by offchain assets. Managed by real companies. Operating under real legal and compliance frameworks.
There is nothing imaginary about them. The only meaningful difference is how they move.
A few weeks before Christmas, I tried to deposit a cheque. £750. The deposit was declined. Not because of fraud. Not because the cheque was invalid. Because my bank has a maximum cheque deposit limit of £500.
A hard ceiling built into the system. No warning. No override. Just an arbitrary rule, enforced automatically, in 2026.
Another one. Try sending money through online banking. There's always a daily cap. Send too frequently and you trigger reviews. Send too much and the transfer gets blocked. Not because you did anything wrong. Because the system assumes risk by default.
The one that really stuck with me happened last month. I sent £2,000 from my bank to a crypto exchange. Within minutes, my account was frozen. I was asked around twenty-five questions. Where did this money come from? Who are you investing with? What does the company do? What returns are you expecting? Why are you sending the money now?
My funds were locked for two full days. This isn't an edge case. This is normal behaviour in modern banking. We've just been conditioned to accept it.
If I hold a stablecoin in my own wallet, I can move it at any time. In any amount. To anyone. Without asking permission.
Settlement is instant. Finality is real. There is no pending. No arbitrary pause. No "just in case" freeze.
That doesn't mean there's no compliance. Issuers still operate under legal frameworks and regulatory obligations. But from the user's point of view, the experience finally matches how money should feel in a digital world.
If you look at platforms like rwa.xyz, you can see it clearly in the data. Tokenized treasuries. Onchain money market funds. Tokenized credit. Tokenized commodities.
Billions of dollars in real assets are already sitting onchain. Growing week by week. Not because retail traders are gambling on them. Because institutions and allocators are moving pieces of the financial system onto better rails.