W Hotel RWA: Can a guest room be split into 100,000 shares for sale?

This article is from the WeChat official account "Space Secret Agent". Author: Wang Xiaoxiong. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.

Some experts predict that the era of "universal investment" will arrive in 2025. However, there have been a continuous stream of negative news such as the plunge in gold prices and the sharp drop in the secondary market prices of CS:GO accessories. On one hand, middle - and high - income groups are eager to increase their assets through independent investment. On the other hand, the investment market is a mixed bag with hidden risks. Why did hotel RWA come into being? What deep - seated dilemmas in the hotel industry does it reflect? And where is it headed?

Splitting a hotel room into 100,000 shares, with each share capable of generating independent income, this is not a simulation business game but a recent asset - on - chain move by the W Hotel in Hong Kong.

In August, at the "Closed - door Meeting of Strategic Partners for Hotel Asset RWA" co - hosted by the Hong Kong Hotel Association and Victory Securities, leading enterprises and institutions in the industry such as The Peninsula Hotels Group, W.Hotel, and PwC jointly discussed the innovative application of blockchain technology in the field of hotel assets.

LEO, the Chief Technology Officer of W.Hotel, demonstrated a new RWA asset management system at the meeting. This system can split a single hotel room into 100,000 property right certificates, allowing investors to hold shares of high - end hotel assets with a minimum investment of $100 and realizing the automatic distribution of daily rental income. It is estimated that this innovative model is expected to increase the liquidity of hotel assets by more than 300%.

At the meeting, all parties reached a consensus on implementing a "three - step" strategy to promote the digitalization process of hotel assets. In the first stage, the on - chain confirmation of property rights for the first batch of hotel properties worth $500 million will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the first compliant hotel REITs tokens are planned to be issued. By the second quarter of 2026, the DeFi protocol will be connected, and the pledge - lending function will be opened. Some industry insiders said that these series of measures mark that the Hong Kong hotel industry has officially entered the RWA era.

Since the release of the "three - step" strategy several months ago, the discussion about hotel RWA has never stopped. Recently, a post by blogger Dean about "hotels will become the highest - quality RWA assets in the future" has once again sparked intense discussions among netizens. Some people think that "this is a new type of financing scam", while others believe that "one can enter the market cautiously on the premise of a perfect legal and regulatory framework". There are also those who think that "hotel assets with income rights but no control rights are no different from REITs".

Is hotel RWA a new trend for the popularization of hotel industry investment? Or is it another wave of "fleece - cutting"? Or is it an experiment to break the "shackles" of the solidification of traditional hotel industry assets? This article may give you a glimpse.

What is hotel RWA?

To understand "hotel RWA", we have to start with "what exactly is RWA".

RWA, or Real - World Assets, refers to the conversion of tangible assets (such as real estate, gold, and commodities) or intangible assets (such as creditor's rights and intellectual property rights) in the real world into digital tokens that can be held, traded, split, or mortgaged on the chain through blockchain technology, that is, asset tokenization.

To put it simply, RWA is a new type of virtual currency based on blockchain technology. The previously "hyped" "stablecoin" is one type of RWA. The real assets behind RWA can be diverse. Various physical assets such as fiat currency, national debt, gold, and shops can all be tokenized. Hotel RWA is a virtual currency supported by various hotel assets. Hotel rooms, banquet halls, vacation villas, etc. can all be used to issue RWA.

At first glance, this "fragmented" investment method seems to be little different from REITs. Some in the industry have also pointed out that it may be "old wine in new bottles". However, in fact, it is very different from the traditional "securitization" process (Securitization):

First, the infrastructure they rely on is different. Securitization relies on a centralized registration, custody, and exchange system, while RWA relies on blockchain, smart contracts, and on - chain clearing.

Second, their granularity is different. Traditional securitization usually involves large - scale packaging with a relatively high threshold, while RWA can split a single property, a single loan, or even a part of cash flow into shares.

Finally, their liquidity logic is different. RWA may rely on the global on - chain secondary market, with higher cross - border circulation efficiency.

This also means that in essence, RWA is a "global and programmable securitization tool".

To achieve "smooth" global and programmable on - chain transactions, when completing the asset tokenization process, distributed ledger technology, that is, blockchain technology, is usually used to realize the digital representation of asset rights and interests, so as to solve problems such as difficult confirmation of ownership, low transfer efficiency, and insufficient liquidity in traditional asset transactions.

The reason why the hotel asset digitalization strategy mentioned above was released in Hong Kong is also related to Hong Kong's perfect digital asset regulatory system. In June, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government released the "Policy Declaration on the Development of Digital Assets in Hong Kong 2.0", marking that Hong Kong has bid farewell to simple policy experiments and entered a new stage of a precise "institutional project".

The core LEAP strategic framework of the "Declaration 2.0" systematically constructs a prosperous ecosystem that can accommodate innovation and control risks from four dimensions: law, products, scenarios, and talents. In Hong Kong, the issuance of RWA needs to comply with the regulatory requirements of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and usually realizes the cross - border restructuring and tokenization of asset rights and interests through the "two - chain and one - bridge" model of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), domestic alliance chains, and overseas public chains.

Currently, Hong Kong's RWA products are mainly targeted at professional investors, mainly fixed - income assets (such as real estate tokenization products and bond tokens), and the trading rights of the secondary market have not been fully opened.

The release of the "Declaration 2.0" in Hong Kong undoubtedly marks that Hong Kong's attitude towards digital assets is no longer a marginal exploration but a mainstream advancement. And the asset - on - chain move of the W Hotel this time is also an adaptation to the global trend of digital asset development. In 2018, the first on - chain hotel reservation module in Kuala Lumpur, the Vingoda platform, started testing. The platform used blockchain to split a seaside suite into 100,000 RWA certificates. While enjoying dividends, investors can also exchange them for the right to stay. The release of this platform aims to convert the surplus idle luxury hotel rooms in Southeast Asia into divisible digital assets for investment.

The design inspiration of Vingoda may come from the "Sharing Economy Plan" promoted by Malaysia's MDEC, which enabled 1.2 million people to earn about 4 billion ringgit through sharing platforms. Or it may be inspired by Japan's NOT A HOTEL, which allows ordinary people to share villas with an entry price of 1 million yen. These experiments undoubtedly indicate that "fragmentation of the right of use" is becoming the core to subvert high - end services.

Why does the hotel industry need RWA?

As an extension of the attempt at "fragmentation of the right of use" of hotel assets, the asset - on - chain move of the W Hotel in Hong Kong is obviously not an isolated case.

At the "Closed - door Meeting of Strategic Partners for Hotel Asset RWA", some well - known Hong Kong hotels announced that they planned to put the banquet hall assets of their Hong Kong flagship stores worth HK$1.2 billion on the chain for the first time. In addition, a cooperative fund is raising $200 million in funds specifically for the acquisition of undervalued hotel assets and tokenization transformation. W.Hotel plans to launch more RWA products of hotel asset packages in overseas tourist destinations.

Why carry out tokenization transformation? What dilemmas and trends in the hotel industry does this reflect? These are questions that investors urgently need to understand.

From an industry perspective, the traditional hotel industry has long been troubled by some structural pain points. These pain points not only restrict the development of the industry but also hinder the effective allocation of capital.

The problem of insufficient liquidity of assets in the traditional hotel industry is the most prominent. Hotel assets are real estate, characterized by a long investment cycle and high difficulty in realization. In addition, even if hotel owners have high - quality assets, it is difficult for them to quickly convert them into available funds, resulting in high difficulty in realization when the capital chain is tight.

In addition, the traditional hotel industry also has the chronic problems of limited financing channels and high financing costs. As we all know, hotel enterprises mainly rely on traditional methods such as bank loans and equity financing for financing. This kind of financing method with a long cycle and high comprehensive cost can hardly meet the needs of the rapid development of the industry in the long - term. Especially in the economic downturn, financing channels tighten, and hotel enterprises will face greater capital pressure when expanding.

The investment threshold in the hotel industry is also often too high. The Hong Kong Hotel Association pointed out that the total asset scale of the Hong Kong hotel industry exceeds HK$1 trillion, but the traditional investment model excludes ordinary investors, resulting in a mismatch between assets and capital.

With these "pain points" intertwined, the hotel industry has fallen into a dilemma of "asset solidification". A hotel property worth hundreds of millions often remains trapped in the local market and is difficult to release its global liquidity value.

Although RWA cannot provide a "one - size - fits - all" solution to the structural dilemmas of the traditional hotel industry, its emergence and development happen to conform to some development trends of the hotel industry in recent years.

For example, leading hotel enterprises such as Huazhu Group and BTG Homeinns, although they have not directly deployed RWA asset tokenization, their strategies are in line with the trends pointed to by RWA technology. According to the second - quarter financial report of Huazhu Group in 2025, its management franchise and licensing income reached 2.9 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 22.8%. This light - asset operation model coincides with the concept of asset fragmentation of RWA technology.

At the same time, hotel RWA does not develop in isolation. Its linkage with surrounding projects will better activate resources. For example, after receiving an investment of 2 billion yuan, the Dalian Xiaopingdao Digital Island RWA project has become the first RWA digital island project in China. The project plans to build 1,000 medical and health - care hotels, a 110,000 - square - meter hot spring complex, and an indoor ice and snow complex. This is undoubtedly a typical example of activating tourism resources through the RWA model.

Hotel RWA is not perfect

It is true that when the industry actively embraces new technologies, it often means that old dilemmas need to be solved urgently. Some industry insiders told Space Secret Agent that with the in - depth application of RWA technology, the investment threshold for hotel assets will be significantly reduced in the future, and liquidity will also be improved.

However, does this mean that a more open and efficient era of hotel asset trading is coming? It's still too early to draw a conclusion.

/ Challenges remain

Even under the premise that Hong Kong has continuously liberalized RWA and stablecoin trading and issued clear regulatory policies, the regulation of RWA in the Chinese mainland is still full of uncertainties.

The difficulty in determining the asset screening criteria has become an obstacle to the development of hotel RWA. The white paper "Research Report on the Industrial Development of RWA · Industry Chapter 2025" in Hong Kong points out that not all assets are suitable for tokenization. Assets that are successfully implemented need to meet the three thresholds of "value stability, clear legal confirmation of property rights, and verifiability of off - chain data". How domestic hotel assets can meet these standards still needs to be explored.

According to the latest policy in July 2025, any form of public issuance of encrypted RWA in China is regarded as illegal fund - raising. However, pilot projects of compliant asset securitization based on digital RMB are blooming locally. This policy uncertainty increases the difficulty of implementing RWA projects.

At the same time, there are still technical barriers to the development of RWA in the hotel field. The digitalization of hotel assets requires the integration of multiple technologies such as blockchain, the Internet of Things, and big data. However, the domestic hotel industry generally lacks compound talents in "blockchain + hotels", making it difficult to implement the technology. There are also problems related to cross - border capital flow restrictions, making it difficult to achieve large - scale development for the time being. Currently, domestic RWA needs to optimize taxes through a cross - border SPV structure (such as a double - layer structure of Hainan and Hong Kong) and comply with strict foreign exchange management regulations, which undoubtedly increases the complexity of the project.

/ Opportunities coexist

Challenges are always accompanied by opportunities. The development momentum is evidence that it brings "flames" to the industry.

Some industry insiders point out that RWA technology will accelerate the integration of the hotel industry. Leading hotel enterprises can obtain more capital support through the RWA platform, which will help them further expand their market share. This will also bring greater competitive pressure to small and medium - sized hotel enterprises. Moreover, RWA technology solves the problem of the lagging hotel asset valuation system. Through real - time data on the chain and transparent management, asset valuation becomes more accurate and timely, enhancing the market recognition of hotel assets.

It is undeniable that RWA technology has transformed hotel assets from "ancillary items" to "investment products", shortening the investment return cycle to months or even days, which greatly enhances the liquidity value of assets. At the same time, hotel management companies can also use the RWA platform to obtain more transparent asset operation data, optimize revenue management, and improve the return on assets.

At the same time, the downstream consumption experience will also be upgraded. For example, users of the Vingoda platform can buy RWA shares through the payment platform, and the dividends are automatically converted into hotel red envelopes, realizing an innovative model of "offshore assets, on - shore consumption". This technology may turn investors into loyal users of the brand at the same time, forming a community integrating investment and consumption.

This year, multiple departments such as the Ministry of Housing and Urban - Rural Development and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly issued the "Notice on Solidly Promoting the High - Quality Development of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Areas such as Affordable Housing, Industrial Parks, and Transportation". In the "Expanding the Pilot Scope of Infrastructure REITs", it was clearly proposed for the first time to "explore including operating properties such as hotels in the pilot". This means that hotels can enter the capital market, and part of their value can flow like selling stocks.

This "coincides" with the development model of hotel RWA. When hotels are no longer only "sold as a whole" but can be turned into "liquid funds", does it mean that the disposal method of hotel assets is shifting from the traditional "real - estate logic" to a more flexible "asset logic"? The answer needs to be revealed through practice. However, facing the chronic problems of insufficient asset liquidity, limited financing channels, and high investment thresholds, perhaps it is time for the hotel industry to make a change.