What to Know
- RockawayX is committing $150 million to Catapult, a program focused on bringing private credit and other yield-generating real-world assets onchain.
- The digital-asset investment firm manages $2 billion and already operates across venture investing, DeFi liquidity and vault strategies.
- Catapult is designed to provide funding, product structuring, liquidity, market making and distribution for tokenized credit products.
- The initiative will target areas including trade and supply-chain finance, specialty asset-backed securities, CLOs and real-estate-related credit.
- Tokenized real-world assets are currently worth roughly $38 billion, with more than half of the market made up of tokenized money-market funds.
- RockawayX expects tokenized real-world assets to grow to between $10 trillion and $20 trillion by 2030.
- The firm sees yield as a major future use case for crypto, particularly through assets that may offer returns less correlated with crypto markets.
- RockawayX says Catapult will look to connect traditional finance professionals with crypto-native operators to originate, structure and distribute onchain products.
RockawayX Targets Real-World Yield as DeFi Evolves
RockawayX is putting $150 million behind a new initiative aimed at turning private credit and other real-world income streams into a larger part of decentralized finance. The digital-asset investment firm is launching Catapult, a program built to support projects that bring yield-generating assets onchain through funding, product design, liquidity support, market making and distribution.
The move highlights a broader shift in the crypto market. After several cycles dominated by trading, speculation and protocol incentives, more institutional participants are focusing on products that can connect blockchain rails with real economic activity. In that setting, tokenized credit has become one of the most closely watched segments of the real-world asset market because it aims to turn loans, receivables and structured credit into blockchain-based investment products.
RockawayX, which manages $2 billion in digital-asset investments, is positioning Catapult as a bridge between traditional credit origination and crypto-native distribution. Rather than focusing only on tokenization as a technical process, the program is aimed at the full life cycle of a product: finding the asset, underwriting it, structuring it, creating liquidity around it and placing it with investors who understand both the opportunity and the risk.
Catapult Will Back Tokenized Credit Products
Catapult is expected to support tokenized products tied to trade finance, supply-chain finance, specialty asset-backed securities, CLOs and real-estate-related credit. These areas are widely viewed by market participants as potential sources of income because they are linked to business activity, financing needs and collateral structures outside the core crypto market.
Trade finance and supply-chain finance, for example, are connected to the movement of goods and payment cycles between buyers, suppliers and intermediaries. Asset-backed securities can be tied to pools of underlying assets that generate cash flows. Real-estate-related credit is typically linked to property financing and collateralized lending structures. When these assets are brought onchain, the aim is not simply to create a token, but to make access, settlement, reporting and secondary-market participation more efficient.
RockawayX is also emphasizing liquidity and market making as central parts of the initiative. That focus is notable because many real-world credit assets are less liquid than major cryptocurrencies or tokenized money-market instruments. In private credit, investors may face longer redemption windows or limited exit options. By supporting liquidity infrastructure, Catapult aims to address the practical question of what happens when an investor wants to exit a position before the underlying credit asset naturally matures or redeems.
Why Private Credit Is Moving Onchain
The appeal of tokenized private credit lies in the possibility of offering yield that behaves differently from crypto-native returns. Crypto markets can be highly correlated during periods of stress, with many tokens moving in the same direction as risk appetite changes. Credit assets connected to invoices, supply chains, real estate or structured finance may have different drivers, which can make them attractive to investors seeking diversification.
RockawayX has framed yield as a major future use case for blockchain markets. Its view is that, after trading, yield could become the largest use case onchain. The firm is specifically looking for new sources of yield, including returns described as 12% plus and uncorrelated to crypto. That ambition reflects a key tension in DeFi: users want competitive returns, but the market has become more cautious about yields that rely mainly on token emissions, leverage or unsustainable incentives.
Real-world assets offer a different framework. Instead of depending only on crypto market activity, these products can be tied to borrowers, collateral, contractual claims or cash-flowing assets in the broader economy. For investors, the potential value is access to income streams through blockchain-based systems. For issuers and originators, the potential value is access to crypto-native capital, faster distribution and programmable settlement infrastructure.
A Market Still Dominated by Money-Market Funds
Tokenized real-world assets have already grown to roughly $38 billion, according to market data cited by RockawayX. However, more than half of that market is made up of tokenized money-market funds. That composition matters because money-market products are generally viewed as lower-risk, highly liquid instruments compared with private credit or structured credit assets.
The dominance of tokenized money-market funds shows that investors have embraced onchain versions of familiar yield products, especially those that resemble short-duration cash management tools. But it also suggests that the broader real-world asset market remains in an early stage. If tokenized credit, trade finance, real estate credit and structured products gain traction, the market could become more diverse and more closely connected to traditional lending activity.
RockawayX expects tokenized real-world assets to reach between $10 trillion and $20 trillion by 2030. That projection is more aggressive than a $5.5 trillion base-case forecast from Citi analysts for the end of the decade. The gap between those estimates underscores both the scale of the opportunity and the uncertainty surrounding adoption. Reaching such levels would likely require deeper institutional participation, stronger legal structures, clearer risk frameworks and reliable secondary-market mechanisms.
RockawayX Brings Multiple Crypto Businesses to the Effort
RockawayX already operates across several parts of the digital-asset investment stack. The firm runs venture funds focused on early-stage investments, a market-neutral fund that provides liquidity to DeFi protocols and a vault business with roughly $300 million in deployed capital. It also acquired crypto hedge fund Relayer in August.
Those operations are relevant to Catapult because tokenized credit products require more than capital alone. Venture investing can help support builders and infrastructure providers. Liquidity strategies can help make markets function more smoothly. Vault strategies can provide structured access to yield opportunities. By combining those capabilities, RockawayX is seeking to create an ecosystem around tokenized credit rather than simply invest in isolated projects.
For DeFi, that type of integrated approach could be important. Many onchain products have struggled not because the tokenization process was impossible, but because distribution, market depth, investor trust and exit options were insufficient. A token representing a credit asset still needs buyers, pricing, disclosures, risk assessment and a place to trade. Without those components, tokenization can create a digital wrapper around an illiquid asset without solving the core market problem.
Traditional Finance Expertise Meets Crypto-Native Distribution
RockawayX is looking for traditional finance professionals who understand how to originate and underwrite assets, then pairing them with crypto-native operators who can structure and distribute products onchain. That combination reflects a growing consensus among market participants: successful real-world asset projects need both financial discipline and blockchain execution.
Credit origination and underwriting are specialized skills. They involve assessing borrower quality, collateral, repayment sources, documentation and risk controls. Crypto-native distribution requires a different skill set, including smart contract design, DeFi integrations, wallet-based access, liquidity management and community trust. Catapult is designed to connect those capabilities in a way that can support products from creation through ongoing trading.
The challenge is significant. Private credit and structured products can carry complex risks, including default risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal enforceability concerns. Bringing them onchain does not remove those risks. It may improve transparency, settlement and access, but the underlying asset quality remains critical. For that reason, market participants are likely to watch whether Catapult-backed products can combine attractive yields with robust due diligence and clear investor protections.
Yield Becomes a Central Crypto Battleground
The launch of Catapult comes as crypto investors continue to reassess what sustainable yield should look like. Earlier phases of DeFi often rewarded users through governance tokens, liquidity mining and highly reflexive market activity. Those mechanisms helped bootstrap protocols, but they also exposed investors to sharp reversals when incentives faded or token prices declined.
Real-world yield is different in concept because it seeks to connect returns to external financing activity. If executed well, tokenized credit products could broaden the range of opportunities available onchain and make DeFi more relevant to institutions that require identifiable cash-flow sources. They could also create new channels for borrowers and originators seeking capital outside traditional funding routes.
Still, adoption is not guaranteed. Investors will need confidence in the assets, the legal structure, the issuer, the servicing process and the secondary market. Regulators may also scrutinize products that resemble securities or lending instruments. For now, RockawayX is betting that the next phase of onchain finance will be shaped less by speculative trading alone and more by structured access to real-world income.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is RockawayX launching?
RockawayX is launching Catapult, a $150 million initiative designed to support tokenized private credit and other yield-generating real-world assets onchain.
What will Catapult provide to projects?
Catapult is designed to provide funding, product structuring, liquidity, market making and distribution for tokenized credit products and related onchain real-world asset strategies.
Which asset categories will Catapult focus on?
The initiative will focus on areas including trade and supply-chain finance, specialty asset-backed securities, CLOs and real-estate-related credit.
How large is the tokenized real-world asset market now?
Tokenized real-world assets are currently worth roughly $38 billion, with more than half of the market made up of tokenized money-market funds.
How large does RockawayX expect the market to become?
RockawayX expects tokenized real-world assets to grow to between $10 trillion and $20 trillion by 2030, reflecting its view that onchain real-world yield could become a much larger market.
Why is private credit important for DeFi?
Private credit may offer yield sources tied to real economic activity rather than crypto market speculation, which could appeal to investors looking for returns that are less correlated with crypto price movements.
What role does liquidity play in the Catapult strategy?
Liquidity is central because many private credit assets are less liquid than major crypto assets. Catapult aims to support market making and exit options for tokenized products that may otherwise have lengthy redemption periods.
What expertise is RockawayX seeking for the initiative?
RockawayX is looking to connect traditional finance professionals who understand origination and underwriting with crypto-native operators who can structure and distribute products onchain.
Does tokenization remove the risks of private credit?
No. Tokenization may improve access, settlement and transparency, but private credit can still involve default risk, liquidity risk, legal risk and operational risk tied to the underlying assets.