Envisioning the new narrative of RWA + games: Will it become the engine of this bull run?

Is the bull run here?

Standing in November 2025, if we look back at the magnificent cryptocurrency market over the past two years, we might be surprised to find that October 23, 2023, could be a typical sign of the start of this bull run: within 24 hours, BTC jumped directly from 30,000U to 34,000U. Many of my friends who had heavily invested around 20,000U were overjoyed: "Look, I told you the crypto bull run would definitely come!" Meanwhile, some friends who missed the opportunity and are still conflicted insist: "Currently, the on-chain data shows no new money entering the market, and the total supply of stablecoins is still at a low point. This is a false bull run amplified by the Bitcoin ETF news, and there will be a wave of correction!"

The positive viewpoint of "The Bull Has Arrived" is very clear, and the three major benefits in the future are sufficient to support the bull run:

1. Bitcoin ETF accelerates the entry of funds from traditional financial institutions;

2. Bitcoin's halving in May 2024 will increase mining costs to above 28,000;

3. The U.S. does not raise interest rates and may even lower them.

Regardless of whether it's a real bull or a fake bull, what I've been pondering is: for a true bull that can last at least 12 months, there must be a new narrative for the entire industry to evolve. Among the three favorable factors supporting the bull run, the first and third are external forces, while the second is the four-year halving rule that everyone on Earth knew when the BTC white paper was released. So what are the new narratives in the industry that can support this bull run? If we don't develop properly and only rely on external information and policies, it's highly likely to be a fleeting moment.

Let's take a look at the development trajectory of the last bull run: It started in July 2020 during the DeFi summer, when Bitcoin began to take off from around 10,000U. DeFi was a major innovation in the industry, using smart contracts to simulate certain functions of the real-world financial system, allowing for interest-bearing collateral, decentralized trading, derivatives, and more. Then influencers like Musk started to promote it. After that, the applications of NFT and GameFi 1.0 emerged, allowing many novice users to enter the space without needing to learn the knowledge-intensive DEFI, enabling them to participate and, importantly, also to get rich quickly. Finally, the concept of the metaverse became popular, with Facebook rebranding as Meta. The bull run peaked in November 2021, with Bitcoin reaching a price of 69,000U.

2. The new narrative of this bull run

Did you see it? At least Defi, NFT, Gamefi 1.0, and the Metaverse are the four innovations that represent the evolution of the crypto industry in the last bull run. So what are the new evolution points in this round of bull run, which we often refer to as the new narrative? Let's summarize:

1. SocialFi decentralized social, a case is the recently emerged Friend.Tech;

2. Chain Game 2.0, which is the blockchain game of web 2.5: assets are on-chain while the game is centralized, focusing on highly playable games, and then making use of on-chain assets.

3. RWA (Real World Asset), a vast arena that can link the massive old money of WEB2 with the crypto industry, and Depin, which has been repeatedly mentioned in the HK crypto circle these past two days, is also one of the RWA tracks;

4. The rise of the Bitcoin ecosystem, after all, whether in WEB2 or WEB3, BTC has been viewed as a value store similar to gold. Why can't something be done with it? Even gold can be used to create various derivatives in the financial industry.

Today we will focus on the third point, RWA, because I have always felt that RWA is an extension narrative of the last bull run’s engine, Defi. Think about it, DEFI is generating a bunch of virtual coins through code, then playing with them using smart contracts, and simulating the real financial system. It’s like children playing house, with a dad, a mom, pots and pans, rice, oil, and salt, BUT, what impact does this have on the real world? None! Currently, apart from BTC which has a certain consensus in the WEB2 world, other coins are viewed as air by outsiders, so what’s the point of all these extremely complex operations based on air?

Does that mean Defi is meaningless? Not at all! It can only be said that the DEFI that started during the last bull run is just the first half of this new narrative. It laid the groundwork for participation, the rules, and the direction. It's like you want to host a grand feast, and DEFI has already prepared the kitchen, utensils, and chefs. Now we just need the ingredients to officially start cooking. Therefore, I understand RWA as the second half of DEFI, just like the two parts of "A Chinese Odyssey", "The Moonlight Treasure Box" and "The Monkey King Takes a Bride"; the two must be viewed in connection to be truly beautiful.

3. How to navigate RWA

What is RWA? It stands for Real World Asset, and the complete translation is "tokenization of real-world assets". Corresponding to real-world assets, RWA can also be divided into tangible assets and intangible assets based on the type of underlying assets. Tangible assets mainly include real estate, bulk commodities, artworks, etc.; intangible assets include bonds, stocks, carbon credits, etc. Since RWA is based on real-world assets, it requires an off-chain process for asset confirmation and value recognition supported by law, followed by tokenization through DeFi protocols and circulation in on-chain markets, while monitoring the value changes of off-chain assets through oracle.

RWA actually already has some practical application cases. The stablecoins we often use in our daily lives (such as USDT, USDC, etc.) are RWA. For example, the "Satoshi Island" of physical assets and the hottest RWA U.S. Treasury bonds in financial assets this year are all cases of on-chain token issuance supported by physical assets. In fact, the idea of a Bitcoin ETF is a reverse financial RWA, where WEB2 funds participate in Bitcoin investment through a compliant ETF financial product; while RWA U.S. Treasury bonds allow WEB3 funds to participate in U.S. Treasury bond investment without the need to cash out, earning about 5% annual returns.

The STO boom in 2018 was a grand attempt by RWA in its early stages. During that period, a number of attempts emerged to make traditional assets compliant and on-chain. This also gave rise to a batch of Web3 startups aimed at this goal, such as tZERO, Polymath, Aspen, and others. Some case studies were also attempted, such as Aspen REIT, Resolute.Fund, and Fundament Group. However, due to various reasons such as market conditions, economic cycles, and regulation, the STO market did not develop as smoothly as expected.

The current mainstream approach to RWA is relatively simple, which is to tokenize it (Tokenization) similar to securitization, allowing capital from the crypto space (such as various stablecoins) to have ownership or income rights to real-world physical or financial assets. This is a straightforward one-to-one correspondence, and ownership is also subject to the restrictions of real-world laws. If we want to diversify the RWA approach and encourage more users to participate, we need to design better application scenarios for RWA. We believe that this will stand out in the current bull run and can be defined as the basic application infrastructure of RWA.

Imagine if, in a game scenario similar to Monopoly or The Sims, you enter a stock exchange, link your wallet, and can actually use the game tokens or U in your wallet to buy Tesla stocks, and then enjoy the benefits that Musk provides you. Or, when we take a virtual tour of a city through a gamified scenario, we can conveniently purchase REIT shares of the city’s landmarks and become one of the investors in physical assets. Isn’t that fantastic? Of course, here we only consider the user experience of the product; as for the legal regulations and how to connect to the real securities sector, that will require a savvy project team.

In fact, the RWA basic application setup described above can be considered part of the metaverse in a broad sense, but it is more hardcore in terms of security and its connection to WEB2, so it needs to be singled out to form a new narrative. Currently, it seems that game-scenario-based RWAs should be able to attract more users to join, as they can not only connect the tokens in WEB3 players' wallets with the real world but also allow WEB2 players to experience the unique aspects of WEB3 products: there is no need to complete so many document signings in the real world, just a wallet connection; the shares held are always reflected on-chain and can be traded at any time.

So the question arises, how can we facilitate the transition of Web2 players into Web3 and help them recognize the new gameplay of RWA+ games? We can put ourselves in their shoes and consider what difficulties a Web2 user in the real world might face when trying to enter the virtual world of RWA+ Web3 or even the metaverse prototype, and what demands they might have in their hearts.

First, they will be overwhelmed by the Web3 information that they have never encountered before, such as public chains, wallets, DeFi, and other basic knowledge. It seems simple and clear, but is actually profound and complex, making it difficult to know where to start learning. Then, they will be attracted by various innovative projects and models in Web3, witnessing the myths of getting rich quickly, always eager to jump in, but fearful of becoming the "leeks" that get cut down, leaving them with nothing. As a result, they will seek out others for advice, hoping to learn the true essence of Web3 investment or find reliable investment suggestions. Furthermore, they hope to find a truly enjoyable gaming experience in the virtual world of Web3, and even more so, they wish for the noble identity of the virtual world to extend into the real world, allowing them to participate in some high-end activities with a sense of ceremony, achieving a full integration of online and offline experiences.

The above imagination seems too beautiful, but it is indeed the most simple and fundamental wish in the hearts of most players transitioning from Web2 to Web3. So are there any products or games in the market right now that can fully or partially meet the above needs? We specifically searched the market and found the following cases for everyone’s reference.

Four, Case Studies of RWA+ Games

1. DeFi Kingdom

Want to learn about Web3 but find reading articles, studying white papers, and doing desktop research too boring? Is there a product that allows you to learn Web3 knowledge while playing games? There is indeed such a project, DeFi Kingdom is one of them.

DeFi Kingdom is a product from the last bull run, based on the Harmony blockchain, and is a Play2Earn game. However, it is not just a game; it is also a Dex and an NFT marketplace. The entire game map can be said to visualize and gamify the functions of Dex and NFTs. For example, in the Gardens, players can provide LP through Druid and earn Jewel token rewards. In the Marketplace, users can purchase the main game token Jewel and stake it in the Jeweler bank to receive xJewel tokens, enjoying a series of rights and governance privileges within the project, including participation in voting. Players can also use Trader to complete exchanges between Jewel tokens, Harmony tokens, stablecoins, and other mainstream coins.

Another aspect of the game is the gameplay based on hero NFTs, including hero blind boxes, completing tasks for rewards, PVP battles, etc. Users can purchase or rent heroes in the Tavern and produce offspring heroes through breeding. Heroes have different attributes such as lineage, profession, rarity, and ability values, and the quality and attributes of the offspring produced through breeding are also related to these attributes. The higher the lineage level, the more times breeding can occur, and the lower the breeding costs.