How’s everybody doing? This time around we are talking to Marko Vidrih - Co-Founder at RWA.io!
Marko Vidrih is a true force to be reckoned with, combining entrepreneurial spirit with deep technical expertise. A serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovation, Marko brings a wealth of experience to the table, encompassing technology and financial principles, management, project leadership, and the strategic application of research within tech companies.
Marko's technical prowess extends beyond traditional software development. He is highly skilled in cutting-edge fields like Generative AI, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), and other Deep Learning frameworks. This expertise allows him to effectively utilize research data and achieve optimal results across various projects.
Marko's early entry into the crypto space positions him as a veteran with a unique perspective. He has not only consulted the European Commission and European Central Bank on stablecoins and NFTs but has also actively participated in the industry's evolution. His experience working with crypto startups and major exchanges like OKX and KuCoin further underscores his practical understanding of the market.
Chris: What inspired you to create RWA Hub, and what gap in the market are you aiming to fill?
Marko: We built RWA.io after seeing how fractured and complex the tokenized asset space was. No single platform connected all the critical elements - data, investment opportunities and infrastructure. Our team came from finance and blockchain backgrounds, so we saw firsthand how these silos prevented wider adoption of tokenized assets.
The market needed a unified hub where users could access reliable data on tokenized assets, invest directly, and execute transactions on purpose-built infrastructure. Right now there are over 500 projects attempting to tokenize various assets, but they operate in isolation with no common standards. This creates massive inefficiencies.
RWA.io fills this gap by connecting all these elements in one ecosystem. Our platform delivers market intelligence through our Insights component, investment access through our Launchpad, and RWA-specific infrastructure designed specifically as a tokenization toolkit.
The opportunity is significant - projections show tokenized assets could reach $30 trillion by 2030. But this requires solving the fragmentation problem first, which is exactly what we're doing.
Chris: Tokenization of real-world assets has been discussed for years — why do you believe now is the right time for mass adoption?
Marko: Technology, regulation and market interest are finally aligning. The infrastructure for tokenization has matured significantly - we now have enterprise-grade security and user experience that simply wasn't available before.
The regulatory landscape is shifting positively. Countries like Singapore, Switzerland, and Hong Kong have created clear frameworks for digital assets. Even in the US, we're seeing signs of more supportive policies ahead.
Market demand has reached critical mass. Major financial institutions like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and Hamilton Lane have launched tokenized products, validating the model. On our RWA Insights platform, we're tracking over 240 active RWA projects today with thousands more in development.
Most importantly, the real pain points in traditional markets remain unsolved - high fees, limited access, slow settlement times and minimal transparency. Tokenization addresses these issues directly.
Chris: How do you differentiate RWA Hub from competitors in the RWA tokenization space, such as Ondo Finance, Polymesh, or Securitize?
Marko: First and foremost, we are not competing but rather collaborating with everyone building in this space. On the other hand, RWA.io differs from others by building a complete ecosystem rather than focusing on just one segment of tokenization. Ondo Finance primarily offers tokenized treasuries and funds, Polymesh provides a security token blockchain, and Securitize handles issuance and compliance. We integrate all these functions into one platform.
Our Insights product is unique - we track data from all RWA projects, not just those using our platform. This gives users a market-wide view that no competitor offers. We've indexed over 240 projects so far, across 6 main categories and 13 distinct asset classes. RWA.io Insights supports 18 EVM and 23 Non-EVM blockchain networks, tracks activity on testnet networks, giving users visibility into projects still in development. The platform also supports pre-launch projects, giving them visibility before TGE, and connects to the RWA.io Launchpad for fundraising purposes.
Unlike other platforms that maintain strict control over project profiles and data updates, RWA.io Insights enables projects to create or claim and fully manage their own profiles. Teams can share updates, publish news or revise their information instantly through their dashboard without waiting for platform approval.
Users can track key metrics like TVL, market cap and volume for projects, protocols and tokenized assets. The platform measures performance by category and asset class, assigns risk scores to assets and provides open APIs for projects to display data about their tokens and tokenized assets.
Collections feature, which serves as a foundation for future index fund functionality, allows projects to showcase their testnet activities and partner ecosystems in unified portfolios. Users can easily create or explore these collections, analyzing various assets across multiple chains, categories and regions.
Finally, we're building for global reach from day one - category, asset class and chain agnostic - we collaborate with everyone participating in this sector. Our model combines three essential components - data intelligence, investment access and specialized infrastructure. This integration creates network effects: more projects generate more data, which attracts more investors, which brings more projects.
Chris: You mention an "index fund." Is that a new feature coming soon? Can you provide more details about it?
Marko: Yes. Our Index Funds feature is launching soon and will let anyone create or invest in baskets of RWA utility tokens or tokenized assets. Think of it as letting knowledgeable users create their own ETF-like products on the blockchain.
The feature works by allowing users to select multiple assets and package them into a single token. For example, someone could create a "Real Estate Index" that holds tokenized properties from multiple projects in different cities. Investors buy one token that represents that entire basket.
Index creators can set management fees and earn revenue when others invest in their index. This creates opportunities for analysts and experts to monetize their knowledge by curating assets.
For investors, these index funds offer instant diversification with a single transaction. Instead of researching and buying 10 different tokenized assets, you can get exposure to an entire sector through one purchase.
Our testing shows high demand for this feature - users want simplified ways to get broad exposure to tokenized assets without managing multiple positions. We expect the first indexes to focus on RWA projects’ utility tokens and then expand towards tokenized treasuries, real estate, and private credit, as these have the most mature tokenized markets today.
Chris: Many traditional asset owners may not be familiar with blockchain. How do you simplify the process for them to tokenize assets on RWA Hub?
Marko: True. One of our core value propositions is an infrastructure that simplifies the complex process of bringing real-world assets on-chain.
For traditional asset owners who might be technically hesitant, RWA.io offers several key simplification strategies:
We provide a user-friendly interface that abstracts away blockchain complexity. Asset owners don't need deep technical knowledge - they can leverage our partners' tools, integrated directly into our platform, to tokenize their assets without understanding every blockchain nuance.
Our platform handles critical backend processes like regulatory compliance, identity verification, and smart contract generation. This means an asset owner can essentially upload their asset details and our system manages the technical tokenization mechanics.
We also offer dedicated customer support and onboarding assistance. Our team understands that transitioning to blockchain can feel intimidating, so we provide white-glove guidance throughout the process.
Chris: Security is a major concern in blockchain. What measures do you have in place to protect users' investments and data?
Marko: Security is our absolute top priority. We've built multiple layers of protection into our platform. Our smart contracts undergo rigorous third-party audits to prevent vulnerabilities. We started this major security initiative with our partner Veritas Protocol to conduct a full audit of the Real World Asset sector and create security standards for RWA tokenization.
Our platform uses enterprise-grade encryption and follows strict security protocols to verify data, user identities and prevent unauthorized access. We've also designed our infrastructure with decentralized security in mind - no single entity can compromise the entire system.
For institutional-grade protection, we're partnering with leading digital asset custodians who specialize in secure token storage. This means your investments get the same level of security banks use for traditional assets.
Chris: What’s next on the roadmap for RWA Hub? Are there any upcoming features or major milestones users should be excited about?
Marko: Our roadmap is packed with new features and upgrades. The big excitement is our Index Funds feature, which is almost ready. We're rolling out our Launchpad, followed by DEX and Marketplace, enabling direct trading of tokenized assets.
We're also developing an autonomous multi-agent AI framework for DEFAI intelligence, which will provide smart market insights for retail investors and help projects on every step with onboarding to this space. And for institutions, we're building a bridge framework to make onboarding smoother than ever.
Our ultimate goal is to become the #1 global hub connecting RWA projects with investors, creating a self-reinforcing ecosystem that makes tokenization accessible to anyone, anywhere.
Chris: Thanks for joining us! Any final thoughts you’d like to share with our audience?
Marko: We believe technology should break down barriers, not create them. By tokenizing real-world assets, we're giving everyone - from a young investor in Mumbai to a small business owner in São Paulo - the chance to participate in markets that were previously closed off.
Our vision goes beyond just technology. We're building trust, transparency and opportunity. Every asset we help tokenize is another step towards a more inclusive financial system.
The financial world is changing, that is a fact, and we're definitely not just observers - we're architects of a new economic landscape.
Thanks for having me!
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