It's very important! The new king of RWA!

26 Years of New Investment Research Journey - Thirteenth Edition, the New RWA King - Ondo Finance.

Before discussing the project, let’s talk about today’s hot news: the sudden passing of Zhang Xuefeng at only 41 years old. A long-time athlete, marathon runner, successful entrepreneur, and a good boss to his employees, he suddenly left us.

This matter is simple but worth reflection—health and life are the “underlying assets” of all investment logic.

You may miss a market cycle, but you can’t overdraw your life. Making money through investments is essentially just a “copy” of life, not the main storyline.

Back to the main topic, the project was first discussed in January 2024, with a market cap of $290 million, and the token price below $0.2. It was one of my 10x picks. I analyzed its fundamentals, backing, and track positioning, all of which were excellent. Truly a rare good project, so I decisively bought in after analysis. I also considered its unlock schedule—25% unlocked each January—so I sold most at the high point of $0.2.

Currently, the token price has returned to $0.25, slightly higher than my buy-in two years ago, but close enough. The market cap is now $1.2 billion, a fourfold increase.

So, after two years, has its fundamentals changed?

As previously mentioned, when it first launched, it was focused on US bonds—bringing US debt onto the chain, allowing global users to buy “US bonds”! In simple terms, if you don’t see the deeper meaning behind this, your “sniffing” is not sharp enough.

First, issuing US bonds isn’t something you can do casually; the backing must be solid. And it is—backed by BlackRock! With BlackRock’s backing, what project can’t succeed? It’s like having Jay Chou endorse your product—won’t that boost sales?

Second, issuing US bonds aligns with government needs. The US government wants to sell debt globally—this is the politically correct direction.

Third, this is the first project to do this in this track; others can’t do it!

So, the conclusion back then was that it is a politically correct + financial necessity + technological upgrade triple-need project. No one else can do this in this track!

2. US Stock Tokenization Products: Currently, over 250 US stock tokens are listed, making it the platform with the most US stock tokens. It covers mainstream and emerging sectors, including the “Seven Sisters” of US stocks, indices like NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500, as well as silver, gold, ETFs, and more. This is also a hot trend!

These US stock tokens also pay dividends, which are reinvested to buy more tokens rather than paid in USD.

However, you don’t have shareholder rights or voting rights—you don’t actually own the stocks, only tokens on the chain.

The custody mechanism is compliant: users buy with USDC, and Ondo, through registered US-based brokers (like Alpaca), purchases real stocks/ETFs on NASDAQ/NYSE, then immediately issues on-chain tokens. Chainlink Total Return Oracles handle dividends, corporate actions, and price updates, ensuring tokens accurately track the total return of the underlying assets. (Reiterating Chainlink)

As I mentioned a few days ago, with more US stocks going on-chain, junky copycat projects probably won’t have a spring anymore. Instead, high-quality US stocks will replace these trash copies! For the industry to develop better, continuous technological progress, project innovation, and solutions to global problems are essential—not just launching junk copies to scam investors, which hampers industry growth!

Another important aspect: the most critical metric for DeFi projects is TVL. Currently, Ondo’s TVL is $2.7 billion and has been steadily increasing since launch. Most projects see their TVL decline in bear markets, but Ondo keeps growing!

Having discussed many of its advantages, here are the only two drawbacks:

1. Token lacks empowerment: The product itself is excellent, but the token has little relation to the product—only staking rewards. In the future, they plan to develop their own chain, which could add some token utility, such as node staking or gas fees.

Currently, there’s no support from DAT or ETFs. If BlackRock could back the token with DAT, it could really take off!

2. Large amount of unreleased tokens: As a new project, about 52% of tokens are yet to be released, with a 17% annual release schedule, all unlocked at once. Each unlock causes significant selling pressure, often during market lows or bear markets, making the pressure even greater!

In summary, Ondo is currently the leading RWA token with almost unbeatable fundamentals. The track is popular, and with a TVL of only $2.7 billion and a FDV of just $2.6 billion, if stablecoins and US stock tokens take off, this scale could easily reach hundreds of billions!

The current token price of $0.25 has almost returned to its initial launch position in 2024. Even if it’s not a “diamond bottom,” it’s a very attractive position to hold, especially after the recent unlock in January. Just pay attention to the unlock schedule!