R25 launches yield-bearing RWA stablecoin protocol on Polygon

R25, a stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) protocol, has launched its onchain platform with Polygon as its first blockchain partner, introducing a new class of yield-bearing stablecoins backed by traditional financial instruments.

The debut product, rcUSD+, is designed to maintain a one-to-one dollar peg while paying yield derived from a portfolio of money market funds and structured notes. The token will be available to users across Polygon’s DeFi ecosystem, positioning it among a growing number of asset-backed stablecoins entering the market.

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said the collaboration aims to bring "institutional-quality real-world assets" onchain, adding that R25's risk-managed structure "will provide immense value to both users and protocols building here."

R25 said its underlying assets include multiple layers of credit enhancements intended to strengthen the stablecoin's creditworthiness.

The firm expects rcUSD+ to be composable across lending, collateral, and liquidity protocols on Polygon, boosting capital efficiency in DeFi applications.

Institutional RWAs gain traction

The launch comes amid renewed interest in tokenized real-world assets, a market that Standard Chartered estimates could grow to $2 trillion by 2028, up from roughly $35 billion today.

The bank projects that most of those assets will reside on Ethereum, though competing Layer 2 networks like Polygon are positioning to capture a share of that activity.

"The adoption of yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized assets is narrowing the yield gap between traditional finance and crypto," RedStone analysts said earlier this week. The firm noted that only 8%–11% of crypto assets currently generate yield, compared with 55%–65% in traditional finance, but that gap is closing fast as tokenized Treasuries and RWAs proliferate.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article included incorrect investor information due to an inaccurate press release shared with The Block. It has been updated throughout to remove the misnamed investor.