From RWA to RDA, real data is transformed into real assets. The Internet of Things is the best catalyst for the assetization of data.
In the current era of the booming digital economy, the capitalization of data assets is developing at an unprecedented pace.
On July 22, the National Data Bureau once again emphasized that promoting the transformation of the data industry from "single - point breakthrough" to "holistic development" is an inevitable requirement for accelerating the construction of a digital economy system with data as a key element and for developing new - quality productivity and new driving forces.
Meanwhile, the capital market's attention to data asset capitalization is also continuously heating up.
On July 23, the Shanghai Data Exchange held a closed - door seminar titled "New Opportunities in the Capital Market: RDA", which attracted more than a dozen top domestic financial institutions to jointly discuss cutting - edge issues such as RWA (Real World Assets) and RDA (Real Data Assets). The popularity of the RDA concept not only reflects the combined impetus of the market and policies but also sends a clear signal that the capitalization of data assets is accelerating and deepening.
However, current discussions about RDA mostly focus on data rights confirmation, asset capitalization, and trading mechanisms themselves, while few delve deeply into a more fundamental question: Who can continuously and stably provide a steady stream of real and trustworthy "real data" for RDA?
The answer is the Internet of Things (IoT).
The IoT is not only the foundation for RDA data supply but also the bridge connecting the physical world and the digital economy. Ubiquitous IoT devices and real - time data collection capabilities will inject vitality and verifiability into RDA, enabling data assets to truly possess dynamism, timeliness, and traceability.
Therefore, this article will systematically explain why the IoT is the "engine" of the new RDA value paradigm and how "IoT + RDA" will reshape the industrial logic of data asset capitalization. It can be said that the real transformation of data asset capitalization is quietly taking place in the in - depth integration of the IoT and RDA.
Data Mines and Value Factories: The IoT Starts the RDA "Engine"
In essence, RDA (Real Data Assets) is an extension of RWA. RWA focuses on digitizing physical assets (such as real estate and charging piles) on the blockchain, while RDA emphasizes the authenticity verification and value - added role of data. RDA enhances the credit, transparency, and regulatory compliance of assets by encapsulating the operational data of physical assets (such as steel trading data and logistics data).
The real breakthrough point for RDA lies in the real - time real data continuously released by the IoT.
Empowered by a vast number of devices and sensors, the IoT has become a natural "data mine" for RDA and a "value factory" for new - type data assets.
Different from traditional data collection and static asset evaluation, the IoT can provide high - credibility, strongly relevant, and traceable basic data for RDA through real - time perception and dynamic feedback of the physical world, facilitating the qualitative change of data from "resources" to "assets". This is the fundamental guarantee for RDA to move from a theoretical concept to large - scale market value realization.
The essence of RDA is to complete the entire process of data rights confirmation, value realization, and financialization. Only "data assets" with clear ownership, traceable sources, and continuous flow can truly participate in capital market transactions, financing, and securitization. And the IoT is the starting point and the source of power for this chain.
First, the IoT uses ubiquitous sensors and edge devices to achieve real - time data collection of all "things" such as industrial equipment, energy facilities, logistics assets, and medical terminals. These data not only record the operating status, transfer trajectory, and trading behavior of assets but also can be stored as non - tamperable evidence through technologies such as blockchain, becoming the gold standard for asset authenticity verification.
Second, the IoT endows data assets with dynamic and traceable vitality, enabling the credit mechanism and value evaluation system of RDA to have timeliness and flexibility. Data is no longer a static "snapshot" but a flowing, verifiable, and tradable data stream, providing solid support for financial innovation and industrial transformation.
In specific application scenarios, the synergistic effect of the IoT and RDA will gradually emerge.
For example, in the full - life - cycle management of power batteries, the IoT can collect and confirm the key data of batteries such as charging and discharging, temperature, and cycle times in real - time, realizing dynamic and transparent asset evaluation, traceability, and recycling, and providing a data foundation for second - hand battery finance and green credit.
In the field of offshore wind power operation and maintenance, real - time data such as the operating conditions, abnormal vibrations, and energy consumption output of wind turbine equipment are confirmed through RDA, which not only facilitates remote intelligent operation and maintenance but also enables financial pricing and insurance claims based on actual availability.
For cold - chain drugs, IoT devices collect information such as temperature, humidity, and location throughout the process. RDA ensures the credibility and compliance of data, facilitating drug safety traceability and dynamic credit evaluation in the circulation process.
More cutting - edge is that as the real - time and dynamic nature of data streams increases, RDA can build a new dynamic credit and real - time pricing mechanism based on "data streams", achieving continuous optimization of asset valuation and risk management.
The in - depth integration of the IoT and RDA will not only open up new growth space for data asset capitalization but also completely reshape the industrial value chain in the digital economy era.
Edge Awakening: The IoT Enables "Things" to Participate in Global Value Flow
As the digital economy enters a deeper stage, the pricing system of data assets is undergoing a structural transformation.
The in - depth integration of the IoT, stablecoins, and RWA/RDA creates vast imaginative space for the closed - loop of the machine economy. In particular, the emergence of stablecoins provides the necessary financial infrastructure for autonomous value settlement between devices, enabling "things" to truly become value transfer nodes in the digital economy.
In the new "triple - closed - loop" paradigm shown in the above figure, IoT devices achieve data rights confirmation and asset capitalization through RDA. They are no longer just data producers but have become digital entities that can independently participate in value flow.
A large amount of "edge data" that was originally dormant in various devices and industrial edges is awakened and directly participates in value distribution in a form that can be confirmed, circulated, and traded. Every IoT enterprise and every edge device node, because they hold the ownership and circulation rights of their own data assets, may independently determine the application scenarios and value realization paths of data in the future.
For example, a connected industrial robot can not only generate and record its own operational data in real - time but also confirm these data as RDA assets, which can then be safely and trustworthily transmitted and traded through technologies such as blockchain. Once these data assets are recognized by the market, they acquire financial attributes and can participate in value transfer in scenarios such as supply - chain finance and carbon asset trading. However, without an effective circulation medium, the realization of the value of data assets still faces bottlenecks. At this time, the involvement of stablecoins is crucial.
As the "value anchor" in the digital economy system, in the machine - economy scenario, stablecoins not only provide pricing and settlement units for RDA transactions but also greatly promote autonomous transactions and automatic settlements between devices.
In future smart factories, sensors, production equipment, and even automatic transport vehicles can conduct automated value exchanges with upstream and downstream devices or services based on their data assets confirmed on RDA. The procurement of raw materials, the leasing of equipment, the scheduling of production capacity, and even the trading of carbon emission allowances can all be settled in real - time on the blockchain through stablecoins. Devices can achieve frictionless machine - to - machine (M2M) economic activities without relying on traditional financial intermediaries, greatly improving industrial collaboration efficiency and value discovery capabilities.
The integration of RWA/RDA will further enrich this ecosystem.
RWA represents real assets that can be digitized on the blockchain, such as factories, equipment, land, and accounts receivable, while RDA is the digital twin asset generated by these assets driven by real - time IoT data. After the two are connected, asset transparency, liquidity, and financialization can be achieved.
For example, a logistics truck can be confirmed on the blockchain as RWA (proving its ownership and physical existence) and can continuously generate RDA (such as mileage, cargo transportation status, and carbon emissions). These data will become the new basis for asset valuation, risk assessment, and credit rating.
Therefore, the in - depth integration of the IoT, stablecoins, and RWA/RDA will promote the automatic settlement and value transfer of assets and data, forming a closed - loop of "trustworthy assets - real data - automatic settlement" and realizing the on - chain reshaping of industrial finance.
This closed - loop will not only greatly improve industrial efficiency and financial innovation capabilities but also profoundly change the pricing logic of data assets. IoT enterprises and equipment manufacturers are no longer just data collectors and providers but are expected to become the leading forces in data asset capitalization and financialization. Every physical node and every smart device in the industrial chain may obtain an independent value identity in the "triple - closed - loop" in the future, achieving a magnificent transformation from passive participation to active pricing.
The Era of Dynamic Credit: The Value Reassessment of IoT Enterprises
In the early stage of the digital economy, the pricing and credit system of data assets highly relied on centralized platforms and static models. Platform - type enterprises, relying on their advantages in traffic and computing power, dominated the collection, rights confirmation, valuation, and circulation of industrial data. For the vast majority of IoT enterprises and industrial equipment manufacturers, they were only data contributors and passive participants, occupying a marginal position in the distribution of the data value chain.
This pattern brings two prominent problems: on the one hand, asset valuation and credit evaluation cannot timely reflect the real and dynamic asset status, leading to resource misallocation and credit premium; on the other hand, downstream enterprises in the industrial chain and equipment manufacturers find it difficult to dominate the flow and value realization of data assets, and their innovation drive is severely suppressed.
With the maturity of the RDA system and the widespread adoption of the IoT, this situation will change fundamentally.
IoT terminal devices are no longer just simple sensing and uploading nodes but have become continuous producers of dynamic data streams and active confirmers of data assets. Based on the real - time data driven by RDA, the financial service pricing of industrial equipment will also undergo a qualitative change.
For example, for an injection molding machine worth 10 million yuan, when using the traditional pledge model, due to the lack of dynamic operational data, financial institutions can only evaluate it with a high - risk weight, resulting in a low pledge rate and a usually high annual interest rate, such as 9%. After being connected to the IoT, real - time data such as the operating status, production capacity utilization rate, and maintenance records of the equipment are dynamically confirmed and uploaded to the blockchain. Financial institutions may lower its risk weight to 20%, increase the pledge rate, and the annual interest rate may also drop to around 6%. Dynamic data will reduce information asymmetry and default risks and may directly lead to a decrease in financing costs and an increase in industrial capital efficiency.
Meanwhile, new - generation privacy - protection technologies such as privacy computing and zero - knowledge proof are becoming the key guardians of industrial data asset capitalization.
Compared with the traditional dilemma where industrial confidential data is reluctant to be uploaded to the blockchain, privacy computing can ensure that data can be calculated and verified without revealing the plain - text content, and zero - knowledge proof allows the authenticity and compliance of assets to be verified without disclosing detailed data content. This not only relieves enterprises' concerns about data leakage and the disclosure of trade secrets but also enables more high - value industrial data to be safely uploaded to the blockchain and participate in asset capitalization and circulation, further expanding the application boundaries and industrial influence of RDA.
Of course, the decentralization of data asset circulation and pricing will also bring new risk - control challenges.
For example, manufacturers may engage in "data whitewashing" by forging sensor signals, which may lead to inflated asset credit and amplified systematic risks. To address this, a hardware trust - root (Root - of - Trust) mechanism that supports remote fusing can be considered. Only data streams certified by the hardware - level trust root can be confirmed and uploaded to the blockchain. Once an abnormality is detected, it can be fused in real - time to ensure the authenticity and traceability of industrial data streams.
Thus, the data sovereignty that previously belonged to platforms can gradually return to the front line of the industry. Take distributed energy and micro - grids as an example. In the past, data reporting and price matching could only rely on centralized platforms. Under the RDA system, each edge node (such as distributed photovoltaics, energy - storage batteries, and charging piles) can display its own production capacity, energy consumption, and remaining power through real - time data streams, thereby independently pricing on the blockchain, directly matching with the market, and participating in electricity spot trading. This will not only activate the value of edge devices but also improve the flexibility and transparency of the energy market.
For IoT enterprises, this transformation of data asset capitalization and pricing rights is both a challenge and a rare opportunity for leapfrog development. They have the hope of transforming from "data producers" to "data bankers".
Conclusion
Looking to the future, the in - depth collaboration between RDA and AI + IoT is expected to become the core driving force for the leapfrog development of the digital economy. When RDA can provide real and dynamic asset data for AI agents, AI will not only be able to understand the world but also participate in value creation, achieving a leap from cognitive intelligence to value intelligence. Ultimately, driven by RDA, AIoT agents will achieve self - financialization, autonomous decision - making, and value transfer, promoting the in - depth integration of the machine economy and the human economy.
This trend will bring unprecedented development opportunities to IoT enterprises, data service providers, and financial institutions. IoT enterprises can control and amplify the value of their own data assets through RDA and become indispensable value nodes in the industrial chain. Data service providers can provide high - quality and compliant data governance and circulation services for various devices and scenarios based on RDA, expanding new business models. Financial institutions can innovate dynamic credit, intelligent risk control, and automated financial products with the help of RDA and real - time data streams, achieving a dynamic balance between risks and returns. With the collaboration of multiple parties, the financialization and industrialization of data assets may activate new driving forces for the digital economy.
References
1. New Infrastructure in the Era of Data Capital? The Shanghai Data Exchange First Proposed the New RDA Paradigm: Real Data Becomes "Golden Assets", Source: Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily
2. The National Data Bureau: Promote the Transformation of the Data Industry to "Holistic Development", Source: China Securities Journal
This article is from the WeChat official account "Internet of Things Think Tank" (ID: iot101), Author: Peng Zhao, Published by 36Kr with authorization.