RWA in the digital economic picture

In the next few years, the “digital representation” of real-world assets (often abbreviated as RWA – Real World Asset) will be mentioned as a direction for economic infrastructure development. Simply put, this is a way to use technology to standardize data on assets, authenticate rights, track cash flows and related benefits… to help manage, transfer and access capital sources more conveniently.

This article synthesizes some reference perspectives on the expected impacts on Vietnam's digital economy in the period 2025–2035.

What is RWA?

You can imagine it simply: a physical asset (for example, goods, coffee, a portion of store revenue, or IP exploitation rights) after being inspected, deposited and reconciled will be "minted" into electronic data that can be considered as a corresponding "digital certificate" on the blockchain. That digital certificate is an RWA token - representing the rights attached to real assets. Thanks to that, in the RWA field, assets can be divided, transferred quickly, traded 24/7, and when meeting the conditions, can be converted into goods/physical form.

Key Point: RWA is not “virtual currency”. It is a technological solution, a digital infrastructure layer for real assets, complying with the legal standards of each country to ensure legality, transparency and protect the legitimate rights of investors.

RWA in Vietnam: Starting Advantages  

Vietnam currently has a class of assets associated with economic life that has not been optimally exploited in terms of data and operations: key agricultural exports such as coffee, pepper, cocoa; commercial real estate; F&B - retail revenue; intellectual property rights and digital content; corporate inventories... These assets can participate more deeply in the economic flow if information is standardized, traced and independently checked better.

From a policy perspective, Vietnam has clearly opened up through new policies and legal documents, along with programs/competitions to encourage innovation, digital transformation and sandbox mechanisms. On that basis, RWA projects can benefit from a clearer compliance reference framework, a gradually standardized risk assessment-control-custody-audit process, thereby increasing transparency, reducing operating costs and enhancing credibility with partners, investors and management agencies.

Five expected impacts

1) Unlocking the “frozen” value in information
With a unified identification mechanism, data standards and origin verification, assets that are limited and risky in circulation (such as assets that do not require ownership registration or assets with complicated and time-consuming circulation procedures) can be traded more efficiently, quickly and optimally between legal entities. This does not confirm an increase in financial value, but can help reduce transaction costs and improve real liquidity.

2) Expand the range of eligible investors
As economic interests associated with assets are “data-based fractionalized,” know-your-customer (KYC), due diligence, and disclosure processes become more transparent, small accumulations maybe participate in products that comply with the current framework. Prerequisites remain clear legal mechanisms, full risk disclosure and licensed distribution channels.

3) More capital access options for agriculture, F&B and SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises often lack collateral or have high funding costs. Standard data on revenue, inventory, contracts, etc., if independently verified and monitored maybe become the input for legally compliant financial solutions, helping to shorten approval times and increase transparency.

4) Create conditions to attract international resources
When asset data in Vietnam meets standards, there is a transparent inspection - custody - reconciliation mechanism and a distribution channel that complies with regulations, investors in other markets will be able to maybe Easier access through legal products in Vietnam; opening up more favorable capital connections when legal, infrastructure and operations are synchronized.

5) Strengthening regional position thanks to existing advantages
Vietnam has a large-scale agricultural commodity industry, a dynamic F&B market, a young population, and growing technological capacity. If standards, supervision, and risk management are properly established, Vietnam has great potential to lead the region in regulatory compliance RWA applications, starting with data areas that are easy to standardize such as agricultural products, commodities, retail sales.

Areas that can go ahead

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• Agricultural exports: Standardize warehouse data, shipments, contracts; traceability; information disclosure mechanism to reduce the risk of price pressure and late payment.
  
• F&B – retail – brand: revenue – cost – franchise contract standards; transparent disclosure; facilitating legal financial components.
  
• Commercial real estate: Focus on operating cash flow and disclosure standards; prioritize models with transparent control and custody mechanisms.
  
• Corporate assets and obligations (bonds, contracts): Increase reconciliation standards and reduce fraud through data verification and independent audits.

All of the above approaches must go hand in hand with clear legal mechanisms, risk disclosure, monitoring and dispute resolution.

Instead of “promises,” talk about prerequisites.

• Legal first, technology later: All designs must be within the scope of the law and guidance documents at the time of implementation.
  
• Transparency is key: Risk description, fee mechanism, rights and obligations of the parties must be clear and easy to understand.
  
• Independent monitoring: Depository, reconciliation, auditing and risk assessment must be performed by competent/qualified units.
  
• Participant Protection: KYC/AML mechanism, appropriate limits for each group of investors and authorized distribution channels are indispensable conditions.

The role of HVA: from standards to operations

HVA positions itself as RWA connection point following a “safety – compliance – pragmatism” approach, focusing on three pillars:

1) Research & standardization
HVA coordinates with professional partners to synthesize a reference framework for data, appraisal processes, risk disclosure, custody and independent inspection; supporting businesses to review compliance before thinking about product models.

2) Technology infrastructure – data
HVA focuses on ledger and data management platforms (e.g., blockchain infrastructure for businesses, international standard accounting and recording platforms, cash flow management solutions, information disclosure portals, etc.). The goal is to reduce operating friction, supporting near-real-time checking - reconciliation - monitoring, thereby facilitate for compliance models.

3) Operation management & supervision
Respect the principle of separation: custody, inventory verification, reserve verification, periodic audit, cash flow management and independent valuation. HVA prioritizes a multi-layered control architecture, limiting conflicts of interest and increasing the ability to trace incidents.

Conclusion: RWA as an infrastructure driver

RWA maybe brings a number of benefits: increased transparency, improved liquidity, expanded capital channels, attracted investors, and optimized production and operation efficiency. Furthermore, this maybe is the key for Vietnam to bring goods - agricultural products - F&B - commercial real estate and many other types of assets into the digital transaction environment in a disciplined manner, gradually building a property economy in parallel with a production economy.

However, every step must adhere to the legal framework, prioritize data standards, monitoring mechanisms and risk management. HVA is committed to accompanying in this direction. compliance – transparency – prudence, contributing to helping the community and businesses understand correctly, do correctly when approaching RWA in the new decade.

This series of articles is for sharing knowledge and information, not for investment recommendations or financial product offerings, not for legal analysis or predictions, but focuses on sharing about technology, economics, and investment. The contents referring to regulations, if any, will be written based on existing legal principles, the parts without detailed regulations will be explained and mentioned based on experience in countries that have implemented them in practice. Readers need to proactively read and understand the current policies and legal framework of Vietnam through official documents; at the same time, need to comply with the current legal framework and only operate when specifically licensed, cautiously and responsibly towards the State, community, and society.