Today, we’re thrilled to unveil the new Unlockd, introducing permissionless lending and borrowing against real-world assets (RWAs).
In February 2024, users will be able to tap into their real estate asset value using Unlockd, with additional RWAs including watches, luxury items and fashion, cards, sneakers, Casascius coins, and other collectibles to follow.
By integrating RWAs into Unlockd we’re addressing a significant new opportunity presented by a major emerging tokenized category that has, until now, largely been unavailable to retail users.
Unlockd is bridging the divide between RWAs and the blockchain to financialize assets, utilizing AI and machine learning to provide real-time risk assessments and optimal loan-to-value rates, setting a new standard in smart lending.
We set out to create the most secure, transparent, and instant way to unlock capital in RWAs, taking into account user preference not to sell assets outright and the need to maintain the on-chain utility of the assets.
It is an undertaking we deeply invested in and required that we reimagine our platform from the ground up to capture how RWA tokenization can enhance people’s lives, all with decentralization at its core.
As the first permissionless protocol for RWA liquidity, Unlockd creates frictionless tokenized experiences that remove barriers for users, placing accessible funds within everyone’s reach while allowing users to maintain asset ownership.
WHY RWAs & WHY NOW?
The next wave of crypto will be powered by the tokenization of RWAs, with ownership of tangible assets including real estate, luxury goods, and collectibles represented on the blockchain as tokens that can be bought, sold, traded, and collateralized for loans.
Unlocking liquidity in RWAs has the potential to transform the financial landscape and completely shift the way funds move, with significant growth to be driven by retail adoption in the RWA market.
We want Unlockd to be at the center of efficient and permissionless exposure to RWA liquidity for mainstream users and at the forefront of AI-driven smart and secure lending for RWAs.
RWAs were always on our roadmap, but, with asset owners demanding more cost-effective and convenient alternatives to traditional finance, the pace of RWA tokenization has rapidly accelerated.
With a focus on redefining how financial connectivity can be delivered to users, we decided to prioritize integrating RWAs into our protocol to maximize the liquidity that could be unlocked for asset owners.
While RWAs represent a new asset class for us, our mission to unlock value and advance the frontier of what is possible in the tokenized economy remains the same. Irrespective of how we evolve, Unlockd will continue to build to help increase access to open, transparent, and permissionless finance.
RWA MARKET OPPORTUNITY & BARRIERS
Boston Consulting Group and private markets exchange ADDX project that RWA tokenization will become a $16.1 trillion industry by 2030.
Given the size of the opportunity, the tokenization of RWAs represents a tsunami poised to supercharge the crypto ecosystem, bringing a surge of users, capital, and on-chain activity.
To date, however, lending and borrowing based on RWA tokens has been confined to centralized institutions, with finance having chiefly been made available to accredited investors, leaving retail investors overlooked, underserved, and often excluded.
While retail users have sought access to RWA liquidity, they have been unable to meaningfully participate in RWA protocols which have been set up with a focus on lending to institutional investors.
Despite the astounding market potential of bringing the real world to the blockchain, these barriers have prevented retail adoption and the need for universally accessible RWA liquidity has remained very much unmet.
Investors of all sizes now rightfully expect financial services to be provided via a seamless, world-class experience given the rapid evolution in modern data availability and technology.
In order to realize the category’s full potential, retail investors require access to decentralized lending and borrowing against their RWAs.
The time for a new approach and a radically better user experience to achieve mass adoption of RWA tokenization is now.
WHY Unlockd?
At Unlockd we’re creating access to RWA liquidity for all asset owners, bringing new technology to the market that is inclusive, user-friendly, and makes better decisions faster to enable the free flow of value at scale.
Put simply, Unlockd offers fairer loan rates and simpler, quicker access to funds.
Our platform is not gated to institutional investors but rather open and accessible to everyone with a wallet, without traditional KYC.
Unlockd’s peer-to-pool approach makes liquidity instantly available through a faster, easy to use, capital-efficient transaction model that reduces counterparty risk, with significant advantages over lower liquidity, slower, and higher risk peer-to-peer lending and borrowing.
With real-time loan assessment utilizing AI and algorithmic risk modeling, we’re able to provide the best loan-to-value conditions and optimal liquidations that eliminate the risk of selling undervalued collateral.
The protocol will enable true ownership of RWAs to maintain the advantages of asset ownership while using Unlockd and, reflecting our belief in a multi-chain future, will have cross-chain interoperability.
We’re delivering a best-in-class solution that reduces the time asset owners spend on financing, from weeks to just minutes.
Users will be able to substitute the lengthy and opaque process of completing finance applications, waiting for approval, and receiving funds with a streamlined and satisfying on-chain user experience.
WHAT RWAs WILL Unlockd SUPPORT?
Unlockd will support RWAs including real estate, luxury items such as watches, collectibles, and treasury bills.
One platform, infinite permissionless possibilities.
WEN LAUNCH?
Unlockd will launch in February 2024, initially supporting tokenized real estate assets through our integration with Roofstock Onchain, a blockchain-enabled real estate platform for buying and selling RWAs.
Additional tokenized RWAs will include:
- Watches*
- Luxury items and fashion**
- Cards**
- Sneakers**
- Other collectibles**
* Via Watches.io, Chronobase, and 4K integrations
** Via Unikura and 4K integrations
*** Via a 4K integration
The future of the tokenized economy is RWAs and we’re proud to be driving it forward, leveraging AI and real-time analysis to make liquidity for RWAs permissionless, fair, and accessible for everyone.
Learn more about how we are reshaping the RWA lending and borrowing experience.
For more announcements, including the upcoming Unlockd RWA Waitlist launch and your chance to win an RWA NFT and other exciting giveaways, follow Unlockd on X and join our community in Discord.
