BTC Builders XII: Will Bitcoin Dominate RWAs?

Arch Network

08 Sep 2025 • 4 min read

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🏛️ SEC considers defending your Bitcoin. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing a proposal to quantum-proof Bitcoin and other major crypto assets, a threat that some experts believe could emerge as early as 2028.

₿ Heated debate emerges over Bitcoin nodes. A weeklong back-and-forth on X showcases whether the network should lean on fee incentives alone or allow stricter relay policies to curb non-monetary data, as Bitcoin.com News reports.

RWAs will live best on Bitcoin

Real-world assets (RWAs) are crossing the chasm from Wall Street balance sheets into blockchain rails.

Consider the $1.6B in IRA gold tokenization that Arch partner Chintai is bringing on-chain with SmartGold. Or Galaxy’s issuer-backed tokenized equity on Superstate, or Apollo’s $100M tokenized credit fund (ACRED),

Those are just a few examples from the last week. The message is clear: tokenization is no longer a thought experiment.

It’s happening now, at scale ... but where will it all settle?

Increasingly, the answer is Bitcoin.

Why RWAs Matter

Tokenization solves real inefficiencies:

Unlocking liquidity from historically illiquid assets like gold or private credit.
Enabling compliant, peer-to-peer transfers of regulated securities.
Offering composability, where assets like tokenized credit can plug into DeFi protocols for collateral, yield, and risk management.

Investors want yield, institutions want efficiency, and regulators want oversight. Tokenization promises all three.

Why Bitcoin Is the Natural Base Layer

The Deepest Liquidity: Just as U.S. Treasuries underpin global finance, Bitcoin’s $2T+ market cap provides the deepest and most credible settlement layer. RWAs anchored here connect to the broadest pool of global demand.
The Most Secure Foundation: Bitcoin’s proof-of-work and unmatched decentralization minimize systemic risk. RWAs backed by trillions in off-chain value require the strongest possible base chain.
The Greatest Decntralization: Public markets don’t want to rely on ecosystems controlled by single foundations or geographies. Bitcoin’s neutrality—no centralized foundation, no single jurisdiction—makes it the most credible long-term base for tokenized global markets.

The Missing Piece: Infrastructure

Until recently, Bitcoin lacked the programmability needed to host sophisticated RWA contracts. That’s changing.

With the innovations created by Arch, Bitcoin can now support:

Advanced signature schemes (FROST/ROAST) for trust-minimized custody.
Native DeFi protocols capable of collateralizing gold, credit, or equities.
Compliance-first token issuance frameworks aligned with global regulation.

In short, Bitcoin can finally become the decentralized financial ecosystem that many have long dreamed of.

The Path Forward

RWA tokenization is not a passing trend. It’s the inevitable digitization of assets that already power global markets. And while experiments will continue on Solana, Ethereum, and private blockchains, the center of gravity will shift to Bitcoin:

Liquidity: Largest asset, most demand.
Security: Strongest chain, fewest trust assumptions.
Credibility: Neutral base that global institutions can adopt without fear of capture.

In the same way Bitcoin is becoming the settlement layer for stablecoins, it will also be the settlement layer for the world’s tokenized gold, equities, credit markets, and more.