The RWA market is gaining momentum: Grvt's $100 million strategy and Coinbase's expansion into the UAE
The sector of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization continues to demonstrate explosive growth, and recent developments only confirm this. The hybrid CeDeFi platform Grvt has announced a strategic partnership with issuer Ondo Finance. Over the next twelve months, the exchange intends to grow its position in the tokenized product USDY to $100 million. This is not just a deal, but a signal that institutional players are beginning to view RWA as a full-fledged tool for liquidity management.
Mechanics of the partnership and yield attractiveness
The key element of the deal is the integration of an annual percentage yield (APY) of 3.5% into the single base rate of the Grvt Earn product. Platform users making deposits will receive passive income, which is composed of this base rate and additional sources, including integration with the Aave protocol. In essence, Grvt is turning its earnings product into a hybrid instrument that combines the yield of traditional treasury bonds with the flexibility of the DeFi market.
Based on my estimates, drawn from data from analytical platforms, the total assets under management (AUM) of Ondo Finance amounts to approximately $2.59 billion. The main contribution comes from USDY — a tokenized instrument backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries and bank deposits, with a figure of $2.1 billion deployed across eight networks. The remaining $500 million is attributed to the OUSG product, available exclusively to qualified investors from the United States. Grvt's planned position of $100 million will account for about 3.8% of the current USDY AUM — this is a substantial volume capable of influencing market dynamics.
Infrastructural shift and the geopolitics of tokenization
This partnership is vivid confirmation that tokenized treasury bonds are ceasing to be merely an investment product. They are transforming into an infrastructural layer for DeFi platforms, solving the distribution problem that has long been a bottleneck for scaling assets like USDY. For Ondo, this is an elegant way to expand reach without directly entering the retail market, and for Grvt, it is an opportunity to strengthen its position on the ZKsync L2 network, especially after raising $19 million in a Series A in September 2025 and conducting the TGE of the GRVT token at the end of July 2026.
In parallel, Coinbase is taking an important step in international expansion. The company has received permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market and is opening a tokenization hub in the UAE capital. The plan is to offer digital securities backed by underlying equities. This is a logical continuation of Coinbase's strategy to bring traditional financial instruments onto the blockchain outside the United States. The new division will operate in parallel with the derivatives business in Dubai, forming two anchor bases for global operations.
Against the backdrop of these developments, one must not forget the internal issues at Ondo Finance. In August, information emerged about a conflict over control of the project following the death of its founder. This reminds us that even in the most successful growth stories, there are zones of uncertainty that could affect long-term stability.
My view: the RWA market is moving toward consolidation, where major exchanges and issuers will build symbiotic relationships. The integration of treasury bonds into DeFi products is not just a trend, but a fundamental change in the architecture of financial markets. However, investors should closely monitor governance risks in projects that are growing too quickly.