Goldman Sachs also entered the RWA Market…”Turning into an asset token.” What is that

The future of ‘asset tokenization’ finance is drawing attention
Goldman Sachs Launches 3 RWA Products This Year
BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity also entered the market
S. Korea to establish ST first under authorities’ regulation
“RWA, Blockchain Popularization Will Play a Big Role”

This article has been translated into English through AI.

[Edaily Marketin Reporter Kim Yeon-seo] Recently, it was reported that Goldman Sachs, a large investment bank, is entering the real-linked asset (RWA) market. Prior to this, global asset managers such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity have also launched RWA businesses. Analysts say that the asset tokenization market has a high growth potential in terms of giving liquidity to real assets that have been difficult for individual investors to access and reducing issuance and distribution costs.

According to the industry on the 12th, Goldman Sachs is planning to launch three RWA products in the U.S. and Europe this year. The U.S. daily Fortune reported on the 10th (local time), citing remarks by Matthew McDermott, global head of Goldman Sachs’ digital assets. RWA refers to assets that actually exist as tokens using blockchain technology.

Goldman Sachs has not released details about its tokenized funds, but one in three will likely focus on the U.S. fund market and another on the European bond market. It is also said to be preparing a marketplace for tokenized assets.

Amid the growing interest of the global investment industry in RWA, the token securities issuance (STO) market is first settled under the regulation of financial authorities in Korea. Various fragmented investment products such as real estate, music copyright trust beneficiary certificates, art, and Korean beef investment contract securities are being released under the regulation of the authorities.

RWA and STO have something in common in that they can tokenize assets to give liquidity to various real assets and invest in some of the assets with a small number of capital. However, RWA differs in that it makes real assets a digital token and trades on blockchain and DeFi, and STO tokens securities that must be regulated by financial authorities under the Capital Markets Act.

Some say that RWA will play an important role in popularizing blockchain because it is free from fundamental debate compared to Crypto. In the case of token securities, it belongs to a strong regulatory environment, such as having to follow the laws and regulations of the strict capital market law and having to provide the level of investor protection required by financial authorities.

In fact, many domestic sculpture investment companies, including music copyrights, real estate, and Korean beef, have been restricted from conducting their business for a while due to regulations by the authorities. For example, in the case of Music Cow, which provides a music copyright sculpture investment service, it was possible to resume its business after preparing investor protection requirements.

Music Cow has prepared protective measures such as legally insulating investors’ rights and assets from the risk of bankruptcy of business operators, such as trusting music copyrights, which are underlying assets, to trust institutions such as securities companies and banks, and managing customer deposits in securities accounts. Currently, Music Cow is preparing a token securities service that combines blockchain technology with music copyright sculpture investment.

The industry predicts that RWA and STO can be used differently depending on investors’ tendencies and needs as the purpose of assets and regulatory environments are different. An STO industry official said, “As liquidity is given to various assets that were difficult for individuals to access due to the emergence of STO and RWA, the financial sector can expand endlessly if the market is activated.”