RWA race accelerates: Grvt strengthens its position in USDY by $100M, Coinbase establishes itself in Abu Dhabi
The real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector continues to demonstrate explosive growth, and recent events only confirm this. Hybrid CeDeFi platform Grvt has announced a strategic partnership with tokenized securities issuer Ondo Finance. Over the next twelve months, the exchange intends to grow its position in the USDY product to an impressive $100 million.
Betting on institutional yield
A key element of the deal is the integration of an annual percentage yield (APY) of 3.5% into the base rate of Grvt Earn. This is not just a marketing move, but a full-fledged infrastructure solution: the platform rewards users for providing liquidity, combining yield from tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds with the capabilities of DeFi protocols such as Aave. In essence, Grvt is creating a synthetic instrument that allows retail users to access institutional-level yield without the complexities of direct RWA entry.
The scale of Grvt's ambitions becomes evident when looking at the numbers. According to data from the aggregator RWA.xyz, the total assets under management (AUM) of Ondo Finance is approximately $2.59 billion. Of this, $2.1 billion is in USDY (deployed across 8 networks), and $500 million is in OUSG, available only to qualified U.S. investors. Thus, Grvt's planned $100 million position would constitute about 3.8% of the current USDY AUM — a serious statement that could significantly impact the product's liquidity and distribution.
This partnership is a vivid marker of a paradigm shift. Tokenized Treasury bonds are ceasing to be just an investment product for hedge funds and are becoming a foundational infrastructure layer for the entire DeFi ecosystem. For Ondo, this solves a long-standing distribution problem. Instead of spending resources on direct retail outreach, the company gains access to Grvt's user base, which, in turn, operates on the ZKsync L2 solution. It's worth recalling that Grvt raised $19 million in a Series A round in September 2025, and the GRVT token TGE took place on July 30, 2026.
Coinbase chooses the UAE
In parallel, crypto giant Coinbase is betting on the Middle East. On August 11, the company announced the opening of an international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi, having obtained a financial services license from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market. The license will allow Coinbase to offer digital securities backed by underlying equities.
This move is not merely geographic expansion. Coinbase is building a foothold for bringing traditional securities onto the blockchain outside the U.S. jurisdiction. The new division will operate in parallel with the company's derivatives business in Dubai, forming two anchor points in the UAE. Amid growing interest from global banks and asset managers in the tokenization of funds, bonds, and private credit, Coinbase is clearly seeking to establish itself as a key infrastructure player in this process.
My view: The actions of Grvt and Coinbase represent two different but equally telling approaches to the same problem: how to scale RWA. Grvt addresses it through yield aggregation, while Coinbase does so through regulatory legitimacy. Both paths are viable, but it is likely the synergy of these strategies that will determine who becomes the dominant bridge between TradFi and DeFi in the coming years.