RWA tokenization platforms compared: issuers, access models and networks
Tokenization is not one product. It covers at least four different businesses: tokenized cash-like instruments, tokenized fund shares, tokenized credit, and platform software that other issuers run on. Lumping them together is the most common analytical mistake in this category, so the first column below is deliberately the business model rather than the brand.
Who this is for: Readers building a map of who does what in tokenized assets, and sponsors who need to know which category they are actually buying into.
Read the access model column before anything else. A permissioned product with a transfer-agent gate is a different instrument from an open token, and the two are routinely compared as if they were the same thing.
The comparison
7 options| Option | Business model | Flagship product | Networks | Access model | How the issuer earns | Primary documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Securitize | Tokenization platform and transfer agent | Issuance and administration infrastructure for tokenized funds, including a tokenized money market fund | Multiple, including Ethereum-compatible networks | Permissioned: investors are onboarded through the platform | Platform and administration fees | Fund pages and offering documents published by the issuer |
| Ondo Finance | Issuer of tokenized cash-like instruments | Short-term treasury exposure offered in different access tiers | Ethereum-compatible networks plus at least one high-throughput chain | Split: at least one product is permissioned and at least one is designed for broader distribution | Management fees on assets in the products | Product pages, offering documents and on-chain contract references |
| Superstate | Issuer of tokenized fund shares | Short-term government securities exposure represented as a token | Ethereum-compatible networks | Permissioned | Management fees | Fund information and regulatory filings published by the issuer |
| Backed Finance | Issuer of tokenized tracker certificates | Tokenized exposure to listed equities and other reference assets | More than one distributed to different distribution channels | Restricted by jurisdiction; the issuer publishes the eligible-investor framing | Issuance and management fees | Issuer documentation per product line |
| Centrifuge | Decentralized protocol for tokenized credit | On-chain pools financing real-world receivables and similar assets | Its own chain plus Ethereum-compatible networks | Pool by pool; each pool defines its own investor requirements | Protocol and pool-level fees | Public pool dashboards and protocol documentation |
| Maple Finance | On-chain lending to institutional borrowers | Managed lending pools | Ethereum-compatible networks | Permissioned for lenders in some pools; pool dependent | Protocol fees and pool management fees | Pool pages with terms and protocol documentation |
| OpenEden | Issuer of tokenized treasury exposure | Short-term treasury product for eligible investors | Ethereum-compatible networks | Permissioned | Management fees | Product documentation from the issuer |
A dash means the detail was not confirmable from public documentation at the review date. Treat every cell as a pointer to the primary document, not as a substitute for reading it.
Why each option is in the table
More in Project Explainers →Securitize
Why it is here
Its role is infrastructure rather than a single token, which makes it the clearest example of how transfer-agent gating works in practice.
What to watch
Because the platform serves many issuers, a headline about 'Securitize' may refer to a different product than the one you were reading about. Trace the specific fund document.
Ondo Finance
Why it is here
The clearest illustration of the access-model split inside one brand: two products from the same issuer are not interchangeable for a given investor.
What to watch
Do not assume the transferability rules of one product apply to the other. Read the specific document for the token you are considering.
Superstate
Why it is here
A single-product, single-category issuer, which makes it easier to read the primary documents without disentangling a product family.
What to watch
Permissioned means the investor onboarding path, not the token contract, decides who can hold it. Confirm eligibility criteria directly.
Backed Finance
Why it is here
Extends tokenization past cash-like instruments into equity exposure, which is where the category gets materially more complex.
What to watch
Jurisdictional restrictions are the practical gate here, not the on-chain contract. A token being transferable does not make it offerable to you.
Centrifuge
Why it is here
The credit side of RWA, where the risk is borrower repayment rather than interest-rate movement, so it deserves a genuinely different reading method.
What to watch
Credit risk is per pool and not comparable across pools. A protocol dashboard is not an audit of any single borrower.
Maple Finance
Why it is here
A useful counterpoint to treasury-focused products: the return source is lending, so the analysis starts with who borrows and on what terms.
What to watch
Historical credit events in this category show that a pool can be affected by one borrower. Look for concentration, not just headline size.
OpenEden
Why it is here
Another single-category issuer in the treasury segment, useful for comparing fee structure and access rules across issuers.
What to watch
Category participation is crowded and products differ mainly in fees and gating. Compare those two columns across issuers before comparing anything else.
Common questions
What actually makes something an RWA?
A token that represents an off-chain claim or asset, where the value depends on something outside the blockchain: a security, a receivable, a commodity or a fund share. A token whose value comes only from on-chain activity is not an RWA, even if it is used in the same pools.
Does a permissioned token mean only institutions can use it?
Not necessarily. Permissioned means an onboarding step decides who is eligible, and the criteria can be jurisdictional, accreditation-based or simpler. What it always means is that the transfer restrictions are enforced at the token level, so the token can behave differently from an open one.
Why does the access model matter so much?
Because it determines what happens when you want out. An open token can be sold to anyone on a venue that lists it. A permissioned token may only be redeemable with the issuer or transferable to an approved holder, which changes the exit path entirely.
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