Real-World Asset
An off-chain asset such as a government bill, a loan, or property whose ownership or economic exposure is represented by a token.
Common categories include short-term government debt, private credit, invoices, commodities held in a vault, and real estate interests. Each requires a legal wrapper, usually a special purpose vehicle, trust, or fund, that owns the underlying asset while the token records a claim on that vehicle. Because enforcement happens off chain, the token's value depends on the strength of the wrapper, the reliability of the servicer or custodian, the valuation feed used to price it, and the jurisdiction in which any dispute would be heard. Transfers are commonly restricted to approved holders, so these tokens do not trade as freely as ordinary tokens.
In practice
A tokenized short-term government debt product typically holds the bills in a fund or trust and issues tokens representing shares in that vehicle, not direct title to individual bills.
The common misunderstanding
Putting an asset on a blockchain does not make the claim self-enforcing; recovery still depends on courts, custodians, and the legal structure behind the token.