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On the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, fishermen store fresh catches in solar-powered cold cabinets, reducing fish loss by up to 35% and protecting their income. Meanwhile, investors in Hong Kong are being drawn to a new type of digital asset backed by real-world assets and offering stable cash flows. Can these two seemingly unrelated scenes be connected? What links the real needs of African fishermen with the financial goals of global investors? The answer is Real World Assets (RWA) powered by blockchain technology.
01
DeFi Needs Real Yield Anchors
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has attracted large amounts of on-chain capital. However, a key challenge is becoming more apparent: many DeFi protocols rely heavily on internal capital cycles and lack real-world economic connections. Investors are starting to realize that purely digital games cannot last. What they truly need are investment targets backed by physical assets, with verifiable and sustainable cash flows and transparent income sources.
The core of RWA lies in converting physical assets—like equipment rentals or income rights—into digital tokens on-chain in a compliant way. This helps solve the “empty yield” problem in DeFi and offers a stable “real yield” foundation for the ecosystem.
02
RWA+DeFi
A Strong Combination
The integration of RWA and DeFi is not just a simple combination. It is a natural choice of complementing advantages. On one hand, DeFi unlocks new value for RWA: blockchain technology allows physical assets with low liquidity and high investment barriers (like a cold cabinet in Africa) to be “split” into digital tokens. These tokens can be easily held and traded by global investors. Smart contracts can automatically handle processes like income distribution and settlement, which boosts efficiency and lowers costs.
On the other hand, RWA brings essential “real value” to the DeFi ecosystem. It offers verifiable and stable cash flow from the real economy, helping to reduce the impact of crypto market volatility. It also attracts more traditional capital seeking steady returns into DeFi, expanding its reach and depth.
Image from apollocrypto
03
High-Quality RWA
A Case Study of African Cold Chain
Not all real-world assets are suitable for RWA. A good RWA target usually has several features: physical asset backing, stable and predictable cash flow, and transparent operational data. Cold chain projects in Africa—especially solar-powered cold cabinets that reduce fish spoilage—are strong examples.
In places like Kenya, lack of cold storage causes 27%-35% losses in the fish supply chain[1]. Solving this brings both economic and social value. These solar cold cabinets are physical, tangible assets. They run on a “pay-as-you-go” (PAYG) model, where users (fishermen or small vendors) pay fees based on storage time and volume. This creates a stable and predictable stream of rental income. More importantly, through IoT (Internet of Things) devices, key data such as usage and payment records are uploaded to the blockchain in real time. This ensures transparency and traceability of income data, which is key for trust and successful tokenization.
04
Prometheus and the
Cooling Inn Project
hardware operation
Prometheus’s “Cooling Inn” project uses a network of solar cold cabinets as real assets. It converts income from cold chain operations into on-chain RWA, creating a closed-loop business model of：
data on-chain
token dividends
In this project, a single cold cabinet can store about 200 kilograms of fish per day. Each customer pays service fees based on how much they store. After deducting operational costs, the cold cabinet generates stable returns as a physical asset. Usage and payment data are uploaded via IoT to the blockchain in real time, ensuring data is accurate and cannot be changed. Based on these assets and cash flows, the project is exploring income tokenization—issuing digital tokens that represent a share of the cold cabinet’s income. Investors receive dividends through smart contracts according to their share.
This model offers several key advantages:
Compliance
An SPV(Special Purpose Vehicle) is set up in Hong Kong to meet regulatory standards and support asset tokenization policies.
Stable Returns
Equipment generates an annual return of 15%-25%, proving the business model.
Data Transparency
Combining IoT and blockchain ensures trustworthy operation data.
Replicable Model
Local operations plus cross-border compliance offer a roadmap for global RWA expansion, with future integration into DeFi protocols.
05
How to Add RWA
to Your Portfolio
From cold storage needs in African fishing villages to income sharing in global DeFi pools, RWA is using blockchain to connect real-world value with the efficiency of on-chain finance. This is not a distant future—it is already happening, driven by technology and market demand.
For investors, compliant RWA provides flexibility beyond traditional assets. As long as the underlying asset and operation data are transparent and trustworthy, holding RWA tokens like “cold cabinet income rights” allows you to earn real cash flow dividends. At the same time, you can enjoy the convenience of the DeFi ecosystem. This greatly improves capital efficiency and makes RWA a reliable income source in a diversified crypto portfolio.
Financial centers like Hong Kong are building regulatory sandboxes and policy frameworks to support RWA infrastructure, creating a safer environment for investors. For those seeking long-term value, focusing on RWA projects with solid assets and sustainable, verifiable cash flows could be a wise choice. And those solar cold cabinets quietly operating across Africa may well be the start of this new chapter.
References
The World Bank, COLD CHAIN CHALLENGES IN SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES, 2018, https://www.esmap.org/sites/default/files/events-files/Int%20Conf%20Sust%20Cooling/Julien%20Million%20Cooling_JMillion_optimized.pdf?