As RWA is about to enter the next stage, how is Aptos achieving a curve-over-take?

RWA, as a highly anticipated field in the market, has yet to demonstrate its ability to connect trillion-dollar assets in traditional markets. According to data from rwa.xyz, the total market capitalization of RWA assets in the crypto industry is only 24 billion USD, which is the result of a 56% surge in the first half of this year. Therefore, it can be understood that the narrative of RWA has not ended but has yet to begin. With the future on-chain integration of US stocks and the tokenization of more asset categories, RWA will truly enter the next stage. In this moment, just before dawn, Aptos has already achieved a significant leap, with an on-chain RWA TVL growth of 56.4% in the past 30 days, reaching 538 million USD, and its ranking rising to third among public chains. With the arrival of Aave, RWA assets on Aptos are likely to welcome more investment opportunities, placing Aptos in a favorable position in the next phase of competition for RWA.

Source: on-aptos

Private credit remains the mainstream path currently.

Private Credit accounts for 58% of the RWA asset share, making it the most关注 asset class, followed by US Treasuries. Private credit assets primarily exist in on-chain form and largely lack trading liquidity; meanwhile, US Treasuries face competitive pressure from interest-bearing stablecoins, which are collateralized by Treasuries and offer similar yield characteristics.

What is private credit? Private credit refers to loans provided by non-bank institutions or investors to businesses or individuals in the private market. In traditional finance, private credit has attracted a large number of institutional investors due to its flexibility and high returns. However, it also faces pain points such as high costs, low efficiency, and access restrictions. For example, the auditing process for traditional private credit is cumbersome, transaction costs are high, and small and medium-sized enterprises often struggle to obtain financing due to a lack of credit history.

The encryption protocol acts as an intermediary, issuing and managing assets on-chain as its core business model, reducing costs by eliminating multiple layers of intermediaries, and increasing transparency by providing real-time performance of loan pools and underlying assets.

Private Credit Asset Tokenization Process

1. Off-chain credit asset generation

The asset originator is responsible for generating off-chain credit assets. Private lending institutions (such as BSFG), small and medium-sized enterprise financing platforms, or regional credit market operators enter into loan agreements (clearly specifying principal, interest rate, and term), set secured assets (such as accounts receivable or real estate, which need to be assessed for value and liquidity), establish repayment plans and default terms, and review the borrower's financial status (including cash flow, debt ratio, and credit rating, such as S&P rating BB+). For example, a loan of 1 million dollars is issued to a logistics company with a term of 12 months and an annual interest rate of 12%, secured by 1.1 million dollars in accounts receivable. This step ensures that the assets meet traditional financial standards and lays the foundation for subsequent tokenization.

2. Build on-chain token structure

Through RWA agreements (such as Pact), single or multiple loans are mapped as on-chain Tokens. The forms of Tokens include: NFT (each loan generates a unique indivisible Token, recording complete asset ownership), SFT (asset tokenization, allowing investors to hold partial rights, such as a 10% share), or ERC-20 type (loan pools packaged as tradable fund shares, suitable for institutional investors). The Token metadata covers the borrower's anonymous identification (in compliance with GDPR), principal amount ($1 million), interest rate (12% annualized), repayment frequency (monthly), maturity date (July 2026), details of collateral assets, and default handling mechanisms. Smart contracts support repayment status management, automatic yield distribution, and early redemption or peer-to-peer transfer (subject to compliance verification).

3. Compliance Packaging

The tokenization process must comply with regulatory requirements. Establish special purpose vehicles (SPVs) or virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, or Singapore as legal custodians, corresponding to on-chain tokens one-to-one. All investors must complete KYC/KYB and AML reviews, and non-qualified investors are restricted in access and transfer rights under regulations such as Reg D. Off-chain disclosure documents (such as a PDF format list of terms or offering memorandums) clarify that tokens are debt assets and do not carry voting rights or equity attributes. This step combines on-chain hash verification and off-chain encrypted storage of personally identifiable information (PII) to ensure compliance with UETA.

4. Token Issuance and Financing

Display tokens through the user interface or protocol platform and accept on-chain investments. Investors need to complete KYC verification and use USDC, APT, or USDT for investments to obtain RWA tokens as proof, and receive repayment of principal and interest monthly or quarterly. For example, the expected annualized yield of Pact platform BSFG-EM-1 is 64.05%, covering the financing needs of micro and small enterprises in emerging markets.

5. Profit Distribution and Asset Settlement

The borrower repays according to the plan, and the funds are collected by the issuer and transferred to the SPV, mapped on-chain through an oracle or smart contract, and distributed to Token holders. The smart contract automatically splits the interest based on the holding ratio (e.g., distributing a 12% annual return according to a 10% share). Upon loan maturity, the principal is automatically returned or arrangements are made for asset continuation. If the Token structure (e.g., SFT) allows, it can be traded on decentralized exchanges (DEX) or RWA-specific markets, but usually has a lock-up period, only supporting peer-to-peer transfers.

Aptos's Competitive Advantage in the RWA Track

Technical Advantages: The financial application potential of high-performance blockchain

Aptos, as a new generation Layer 1 blockchain, has its technical architecture becoming its unique advantage in the RWA track, especially in the scenario of private credit tokenization. The following analysis unfolds from its core technological features:

• High throughput and low latency

Aptos utilizes the Block-STM parallel execution engine, achieving efficient transaction processing through optimistic concurrency control. Official test data shows that Aptos's theoretical throughput can reach 150,000 transactions per second (TPS), while in actual production environments, it stabilizes at 4,000-5,000 TPS, far surpassing Ethereum and Solana. In private credit scenarios, high throughput supports large-scale loan issuance, real-time repayment distribution, and on-chain auditing, ensuring transaction efficiency.

In addition, the final confirmation time for transactions on Aptos is only 650 milliseconds. This sub-second confirmation speed is crucial for RWA assets that require instant settlement, such as the distribution of returns from loan pools. For example, the Pact protocol achieves T+0 settlement on Aptos, significantly reducing the cost of capital compared to the traditional finance T+2 or T+3.

• Low transaction costs

The transaction fees of Aptos are on average less than $0.01. The low-cost feature is particularly crucial for RWA scenarios, as tokenized assets involve frequent on-chain operations (such as loan issuance, repayment distribution, and compliance verification). Taking Pact as an example, its on-chain loan management requires real-time updates of repayment status, and low fees ensure that operational costs are controllable.

• Modular Architecture and Scalability

Aptos's modular design separates the consensus, execution, and storage layers, allowing each layer to be independently optimized, which is crucial for RWA asset management, as private credit involves complex metadata (such as borrower information and repayment plans).

Ecological Layout: Institutional Endorsement and Regulatory Friendly

Aptos's ecological layout in the RWA track has significantly enhanced its competitiveness through collaboration with traditional financial giants and the expansion of the DeFi ecosystem.

Institutional Cooperation and Endorsement

As of June 2025, the total locked value (TVL) of Aptos's RWA reached 540 million dollars, ranking third among public chains, only behind Ethereum and ZKsync Era. This achievement is attributed to the participation of several traditional financial institutions:

In July last year, Aptos officially announced the introduction of Ondo Finance's USDY into its ecosystem, and the integration into major DEX and lending applications. In October last year, Aptos announced that Franklin Templeton had launched a Franklin on-chain U.S. government money market fund (FOBXX) represented by the BENJI Token on the Aptos Network. In addition, Aptos has also partnered with Libre to promote securities tokenization.

These collaborations not only brought funding and technical support to Aptos, but also enhanced its credibility in the field of compliance.

Regulatory friendliness

Private credit tokenization involves complex compliance requirements, such as KYC/AML reviews, Reg D/Reg S compliance, etc. Aptos has integrated on-chain identity verification and asset tracking features by partnering with compliance platforms. For example, the Pact protocol complies with UETA requirements by storing personal identity information (PII) off-chain using encryption and combining it with on-chain hash verification, ensuring the legal validity of loan tokens.

In 2025, the global regulatory environment gradually becomes clearer. Europe's MiCA regulation provides a clear framework for crypto assets, while the U.S. GENIUS Act creates favorable conditions for stablecoin and RWA projects. Aptos's low fees and fast confirmation characteristics make it an ideal choice for a regulatory-friendly public chain. For example, Aptos was selected by the state of Wyoming as the top technical scoring candidate chain for the stablecoin project WYST and plans to utilize Aptos to issue compliant stablecoins and loan tokens, with an expected coverage of $100 million in assets by 2026.

emerging market positioning

The RWA strategy of Aptos focuses on emerging markets, particularly in areas with insufficient financial inclusion. BSFG, as the main asset issuer of the Pact protocol on the Aptos blockchain, provides diversified financing solutions for emerging markets and specific regions through tokenization of private credit products, significantly promoting the development of Aptos's RWA ecosystem.

Its flagship product BSFG-EM-1 targets individual consumers and small micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets, providing short-term, small consumer loans and revolving credit lines, with a scale of 160 million USD, single loan amounts ranging from hundreds to thousands of USD, with terms of 3-12 months and interest rates up to 64.05%. BSFG-EM-NPA-1 and BSFG-EM-NPA-2 are special pools for bad debts or default loans, with a scale of 188 million USD, limited to qualified investors, and the returns are not disclosed. BSFG-CAD-1 is a mortgage loan for residential properties in Canada, with a scale of 44 million USD, divided into senior and subordinated structures, with an interest rate of 0.13% (possibly low-risk senior loans), backed by real estate but in a lock-up state, with limited liquidity. BSFG-AD-1 is aimed at small micro-enterprises in the UAE, providing operating loans with a scale of 16 million USD and an interest rate of 15.48%, serving high-growth markets. BSFG-KES-1 targets the retail credit market in Kenya, with a scale of 5.6 million USD and an interest rate of 115.45%.

These products achieve efficient issuance and transparent management through Pact's on-chain infrastructure, contributing 77% of Aptos RWA TVL (approximately $420 million).

Summary

Aptos's rapid rise in the RWA sector is attributed to its technological advantages and ecological layout. By June 2025, its RWA TVL reached 538 million USD, ranking third among public chains, primarily driven by private credit. The Pact protocol has contributed over 420 million USD in assets (accounting for 77% of Aptos RWA) through the launch of on-chain debt pools, significantly enhancing ecological competitiveness. Private credit serves as the growth engine for RWA, achieving on-chain composability through tokenization, allowing credit tokens to participate in the circular loans, leverage strategies, and liquidity pools of DeFi protocols, generating annualized returns of 6% -15%. Compared to government bonds (which face competitive pressure from interest-bearing stablecoins), private credit is more favored in the market due to its high yields and clear cash flows. Aptos's low transaction fees (below 0.01 USD) and 650 milliseconds final confirmation time support real-time lending and settlement, and future integration with Aave may further activate Pact's potential.

Currently, the interest rate spread in traditional financial markets is tightening, prompting institutions to turn to on-chain solutions. Aptos fills the financing gap for small and medium-sized enterprises by servicing emerging markets. In the future, with the optimization of the regulatory environment and the expansion of the DeFi ecosystem, Aptos is expected to add 500 million USD in RWA TVL by 2026. Through the synergy of technology and ecology, Aptos is demonstrating sustained growth potential in the private credit sector.

About Movemaker

Movemaker is the first official community organization authorized by the Aptos Foundation and jointly initiated by Ankaa and BlockBooster, focusing on promoting the construction and development of the Aptos ecosystem in the Chinese-speaking region. As the official representative of Aptos in the Chinese-speaking area, Movemaker is committed to building a diverse, open, and prosperous Aptos ecosystem by connecting developers, users, capital, and numerous ecological partners.

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