Authored by Josh O'Sullivan via CoinTelegraph.com,

The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has become a key focus for traditional finance companies aiming to build bridges to decentralized finance (DeFi), improving liquidity, accessibility and transparency with RWA transactions.

Four days before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, Cointelegraph interviewed Eli Cohen, general counsel of the RWA tokenizing platform Centrifuge, to discuss trends he expects to see in 2025.

Cohen said RWAs provide “the underlying yield for the main stablecoins in DeFi,” primarily in tokenized Treasurys, but he expects that to change in 2025 as the demand for yields increases. 

He predicts that expanding demand for yields will drive more diverse tokenized products.

An unyielding market

Cohen cited high Treasury rates and increasing competition among stablecoin issuers pushing the market toward “higher yielding, still safe investments.” 

Stablecoins, which rely on tokenized Treasurys for yields, stand to benefit from this evolution, Cohen said.

Cohen expects the incoming Trump administration to deliver “a very public renouncement and repudiation” of restrictive policies, such as Operation Chokepoint 2.0, further encouraging RWA market growth.

“This will open up banking and brokerage channels to spur the creation of many more tokenized products.”

RWA’s market cap has grown 85% over two years. Source: Centrifuge

Gensler’s departure, Trump’s arrival 

Cohen said the regulatory landscape should become more favorable to RWAs in 2025, especially after what he called the departure of “open hostility of the Gensler SEC.”

Cohen said the shift from Gary Gensler’s leadership of the US Securities and Exchange Commission to the new leadership appointed by Trump will be “very different.” It may help TradFi firms overcome “internal resistance” to crypto markets.

“Will the Trump SEC go so far as to approve a tokenized security retail offering?” he asked. “We will also keep a close eye on the potential enforcement of MiCA stablecoin rules by the EU authorities,” Cohen said.

RWA progress in 2025

Real-world asset tokenization is already seeing momentum. One example is a $1 billion deal between Mantra and Damac to tokenize Middle Eastern assets.

The Centrifuge exec expects that security concerns associated with crypto will be “mitigated over time as crypto service providers mature,” adding that centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken “are already being used by governmental authorities.”