CryptoSlate pointed to an important gap: the tokenized real-world asset market is approaching tens of billions of dollars, but a large part of those assets is barely entering DeFi lending, collateral vaults and composability.

That changes the meaning of the RWA narrative. Putting assets on-chain does not automatically make them part of DeFi. If a token cannot be used as collateral, traded with few limits or connected to protocols, it may be closer to a digital wrapper around a traditional product.

The real test for RWA is not market size. The real test is whether assets can be used inside open finance without breaking compliance or investor protection.

What to watch next: whitelist models, on-chain collateral, proof of reserves and protocols that can connect institutional assets with DeFi liquidity.