RWA Inc. Surges 28.539% as Ascend Accelerator Launches

RWA Inc.'s latest price was $0.01448, up 28.539% in the last 24 hours. This surge in price reflects the growing interest and momentum in the real-world asset (RWA) sector, which has been gaining traction due to its potential to bridge traditional finance with blockchain technology.

Ascend, a new elite accelerator program, has been launched to support startups in the RWA sector. Backed by prominent fintech and blockchain heavyweights such as Odisea, Plume, Galaxy Ventures, and Anchorage Digital, Ascend aims to turn startups into standard-bearers of institutional adoption. The program is designed to admit only 6-8 teams per cohort, ensuring a high level of selectivity and focus on quality.

Ascend offers hands-on mentorship from veterans who have scaled billion-dollar platforms, along with access to a curated network of investors and regulators. The program culminates in a demo day, where startups can showcase their progress to industry leaders and potential investors. Additionally, teams that complete the accelerator may gain access to a discretionary fund organized by Ascend's sponsors.

The launch of Ascend comes at a pivotal moment for RWA tokenization, which has quietly become blockchain’s most credible bridge to traditional finance. The RWA market has grown nearly fivefold since 2022, but its infrastructure remains fragmented between institutional-grade compliance demands and DeFi’s permissionless innovation. Ascend aims to bridge this gap by providing startups with the tools and resources needed to navigate the complexities of asset tokenization.

The selection criteria for Ascend reveal its institutional focus, as only startups with live products and measurable traction are eligible to apply. Unlike typical accelerators that bet on ideas, Ascend targets teams already navigating the complex realities of asset tokenization, such as reconciling KYC requirements with blockchain’s pseudonymity and designing oracle systems that accurately price illiquid assets.

Chris Yin, CEO and Co-Founder of Plume, highlighted the strategic growth of the RWA sector, driven by support from institutional investors, governments, and infrastructure providers. He emphasized that RWAs are no longer speculative and that the sector’s growth is strategic. Ascend aims to meet this need by developing the next generation of RWA leaders, equipping them with experience, resources, and access.

The launch of the Ascend accelerator coincides with the explosive potential of institutional-grade RWAs, as demonstrated by tokenized U.S. Treasuries. What began as a $100 million niche in 2023 has ballooned into a $7.5 billion market, dominated by products like BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI. These products are not experiments but production-scale solutions attracting real capital by solving tangible problems, such as eliminating settlement delays, automating compliance, and unlocking global liquidity pools.

As the RWA sector pushes toward broader integration with capital markets, the stakes have changed. Institutions are no longer asking if tokenization works; they are asking who can execute it securely, compliantly, and at scale. Ascend’s success will hinge on its ability to produce answers to that question, providing startups with the tools and resources needed to build durable and scalable solutions.

A coalition of top fintech and crypto leaders has announced the launch of Ascend, a high-impact accelerator program designed to fast-track institutional-grade RWA startups. The initiative is operated by Odisea and backed by a powerhouse group of ecosystem leaders, including Plume, Galaxy Ventures, Morpho, OKX Ventures, Anchorage Digital, Centrifuge, Keyrock, Tokenized Asset Coalition, CBI, and RWA.xyz. These organizations will provide founders with hands-on mentorship and strategic guidance throughout the program.

Ascend will select six to eight early-stage teams with live products, early traction, and a focus on tokenizing real-world assets for institutional use. Participants will receive tailored support across critical areas of growth, including product architecture guidance, tokenomics and incentive design support, investor readiness and fundraising strategy, legal and regulatory structuring, go-to-market and growth playbooks, and community and ecosystem activation.

Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital, emphasized the importance of regulated, resilient, and scalable infrastructure for institutional adoption. He highlighted that Ascend gives promising founders the tools to build not just with speed but with durability, supporting the next wave of RWAs and building together.

Founders will work closely with mentors who have scaled billion-dollar asset platforms, gaining access to lessons learned, deep networks, and practical guidance across every stage of company building. These mentors include Yzi Labs, Bankless Ventures, Sentora, and others, who will provide not just theoretical advice but battle-tested expertise and network access.

Will Nuelle, General Partner at Galaxy Ventures, believes that supporting early founders with institutional-level guidance and connectivity is essential to unlocking the next phase of growth in real-world assets. He expressed pride in backing such a focused, high-impact initiative as Ascend.

The program will culminate in a showcase Demo Day, where founders will feature their progress to a curated audience of industry leaders and institutional investors. Teams that complete the accelerator will also be eligible to receive funding from a discretionary fund organized by Ascend's sponsors.

Dora Yue, Founder of OKX Ventures, emphasized the importance of strong infrastructure and institutional alignment for the success of real-world assets. By backing Ascend, OKX Ventures aims to empower early-stage teams building foundational RWA products that meet real market needs.

Participants will gain direct access to mentors who have built and scaled billion-dollar asset platforms, offering not just theoretical advice but battle-tested expertise and network access. Nicola Wang, Investment Director at YZi Labs, highlighted that RWAs are moving from narrative to infrastructure, and Ascend helps founders build the unglamorous but critical pieces, such as compliance, governance, distribution, and real liquidity, so institutions and retail can actually use onchain markets.

Applications for Ascend are open and will close on August 18, 2025. The selection process includes an online application, a screening round, and final partner interviews, with final selections announced on August 22, 2025. The program will run from September 1 to October 30, 2025.

Plume is the first full-stack blockchain and ecosystem dedicated to real-world asset finance. With over 200 projects building on its EVM-compatible infrastructure, Plume makes it simple to tokenize and integrate real-world assets into DeFi applications, enabling anyone to interact with global financial markets through intuitive, on-chain tools.

The Tokenized Asset Coalition seeks to unite traditional and crypto financial systems with the shared belief that many assets will eventually move on-chain. By addressing the inefficiencies, opacity, and fragmentation of the current financial infrastructure, the Tokenized Asset Coalition aims to spearhead the next wave of digital transformation. The founding Coalition members, including Aave Companies, Centrifuge, Circle, Coinbase, Base, Credix, Goldfinch, and RWA.xyz, are on a mission to educate and advocate for shared principles and best practices and build the on-chain infrastructure of tomorrow.

Galaxy Digital Inc. is a global leader in digital assets and data center infrastructure, delivering solutions that accelerate progress in finance and artificial intelligence. The company's digital assets platform offers institutional access to trading, advisory, asset management, staking, self-custody, and tokenization technology. Additionally, Galaxy Digital invests in and operates cutting-edge data center infrastructure to power AI and high-performance computing, meeting the growing demand for scalable energy and compute solutions in the U.S. The company is headquartered in New York City, with offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Anchorage Digital is a global crypto platform that enables institutions to participate in digital assets through trading, staking, custody, governance, settlement, stablecoin issuance, and the industry’s leading security infrastructure. Home to Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the only federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., Anchorage Digital also serves institutions through Anchorage Digital Singapore, which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Anchorage Digital NY, which holds a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services; and self-custody wallet Porto by Anchorage Digital. Recently, through the enactment of GENIUS, Anchorage Digital Bank became the only U.S., federally regulated, and GENIUS-compliant stablecoin issuer bank. The company is funded by leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa, with its Series D valuation over $3 billion. Founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital has offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Morpho is the most trusted onchain lending network with over $9 billion in deposits. Businesses can connect to Morpho's open infrastructure to power any lending or borrowing use case at scale, including embedded crypto-backed loans and custom yield solutions.

OKX Ventures is the investment arm of the global leading crypto exchange and Web3 technology company OKX, with an initial capital commitment of USD100 million. It focuses on exploring the best blockchain projects on a global scale, supporting cutting-edge blockchain technology innovation, promoting the healthy development of the global blockchain industry, and investing in long-term structural value. Through its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the blockchain industry, OKX Ventures helps build innovative companies and brings global resources and historical experience to blockchain projects.

Keyrock is a global crypto investment firm leading in market making, OTC, and options trading for digital assets. Providing liquidity to over 85 centralized and decentralized venues worldwide, their team operates across 37 countries, with entities in Belgium, the UK, Switzerland, France, and the U.S. Keyrock’s commitment to the industry is practical, not theoretical. They offer in-depth industry insights, co-create DeFi ecosystems, and actively support Web3 startups.

Centrifuge empowers asset managers to tokenize, manage, and distribute their funds onchain, while providing investors access to a diversified portfolio of tokenized assets. Founded in 2017 and backed by leading VCs, Centrifuge has been a driving force in the institutional adoption of tokenized assets and has championed industry initiatives including the Tokenized Asset Coalition, the Real-World Asset Summit, and the creation of widely recognized token standards.

Commercial Bank International (CBI) is a leading UAE bank dedicated to empowering businesses and individuals through innovative, personalized, and growth-focused banking solutions. Established in 1991 and headquartered in Dubai, CBI offers a diverse range of services, including corporate, retail, and Islamic banking solutions. Leveraging its innovative capabilities, CBI provides bespoke banking services to help clients achieve their ambitions. CBI is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and is regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).

The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) represents a multi-trillion dollar opportunity, with both blockchain-native and TradFi behemoths keen to claim a piece of the pie. All the more so given the crypto-friendly disposition of the current administration.

While RWA categories are extensive – government bonds, private credit, precious metals, fine art – early action has centered on bricks and mortar: earlier this year, Mavryk secured a $3 billion deal with UAE property giant MAG Group and global derivatives firm MultiBank Group, the largest of its kind to date. The trio’s goal? To bring property investment to the masses, granting everyday investors fractional access to real estate in a fully regulated environment.