Blockchain's $16T RWA Ambition: AI, Oracles, and Institutional Alliances Take Shape

The blockchain industry is forging ahead with transformative partnerships and infrastructure developments, even as crypto markets remain volatile. Two major announcements in October 2025—Deloitte's expansion of Oracle AI agents in the Middle East and Ondo Finance's collaboration with Chainlink—highlight the sector's focus on institutional adoption and technological innovation.

Deloitte Middle East has launched a Centre of Excellence for Oracle AI Agents, a dedicated hub to accelerate the deployment of agentic AI-systems capable of autonomous decision-making-across sectors like finance, retail, and telecommunications, according to Reuters. The initiative combines Deloitte's global expertise with Oracle's cloud and SaaS capabilities, aiming to enhance customer experience (CX) transformations through secure, customized workflows. Agentic AI, which goes beyond traditional AI by enabling systems to act independently, is being positioned as a tool to automate complex processes and personalize customer interactions at scale. For instance, in telecom, Oracle Analytics has demonstrated how AI-powered analytics can predict at-risk customers and deploy targeted campaigns to retain them.

Parallel to these AI advancements, Ondo Finance, a leader in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), has partnered with Chainlink to expand institutional access to onchain markets. Chainlink will serve as Ondo's official oracle provider, supplying price and event data for tokenized stocks and ETFs, according to Bitcoin.com, while its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) will facilitate asset transfers between blockchains, according to a PR Newswire release. This collaboration aims to standardize pricing and corporate-action tracking, addressing a critical need for transparency in the $16 trillion RWA market expected by 2030. Ondo's Global Markets platform already lists over 100 tokenized assets with $300 million in total value locked (TVL), and the integration of Chainlink's infrastructure is seen as a step toward institutional-grade tokenization.

The momentum in blockchain adoption is further underscored by tZero Group's plans for a 2026 U.S. IPO. The New York-based firm, which enables firms to trade tokenized securities under U.S. securities laws, is positioning itself to capitalize on the growing demand for tokenized assets. With backers like the New York Stock Exchange's parent company, ICE, tZero aims to leverage blockchain's potential to reshape capital markets by enabling faster, more transparent transactions, as reported when tZero eyes 2026 IPO.

Meanwhile, regulatory developments in Kyrgyzstan are signaling a shift in blockchain's global footprint. Binance's Changpeng Zhao (CZ) joined the country's National Council for Virtual Assets, advocating for regulatory clarity and blockchain infrastructure; CZ joined Kyrgyzstan's crypto council as the country explores a proposed state cryptocurrency reserve and mining initiatives that reflect its ambition to become a Central Asian hub for digital innovation.

Despite these advancements, challenges persist. Critics note that the tokenization of assets and agentic AI require robust security frameworks, particularly in regulated sectors like finance. Deloitte's Middle East CoE emphasizes "responsible scaling" of AI agents, addressing ethical concerns, while Ondo and Chainlink's partnership includes compliance measures to align with institutional standards.