RWA on the chain is unstoppable: Chainlink co-founder asserts "systemic risk is controllable"

On February 11, 2026, the global crypto market is seeking a new order amid volatility.

According to Gate spot market data, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently priced at $66,700, slightly down from the previous day but still firmly holding above the $66,000 psychological threshold. Meanwhile, the narrative of real-world assets (RWA) being on-chain has not cooled off due to market consolidation; instead, it is accelerating at an astonishing pace.

This week, Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, publicly stated that this cycle has not experienced a systemic risk event similar to FTX, and that RWA on-chain is decoupling from crypto asset prices, demonstrating long-term independent value.

As traditional financial giants like DTCC and Fidelity begin to bring net asset data on-chain, and Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Regulations pave the way for compliance—why is this “asset on-chain” movement, led by oracle giants, being deemed risk-controlled at this point? This article will analyze the systemic security logic of RWA on-chain, supported by the latest market data from Gate.

Cycle Verification: No “Lehman Moment” Winter

In a lengthy post on X, Nazarov highlighted a crucial yet often overlooked point: the qualitative change in industry risk management capabilities.

Looking back at the previous cycle, the cascade of collapses of LUNA and FTX triggered liquidity shortages across the entire industry. In early 2026, despite significant price retracements, there were no sudden collapses of major market makers or lending institutions.

This is not luck but infrastructure advancement.

Decentralized oracle networks like Chainlink now dominate over 70% of DeFi data demand. In the world of RWAs, whether it’s the valuation of tokenized government bonds or proof of commodity reserves, data authenticity and resistance to manipulation are the first lines of defense against systemic risk.

Data evidence:

• LINK (Chainlink): According to Gate market data, as of February 11, LINK is priced at $8.63, with a mild 1.02% rebound in 24 hours. Technically, it’s at the end of a symmetrical triangle; analysts suggest that if it holds above the $8.47 support, it could test the resistance zone at $11.50.
• Market structure: Bitcoin’s market cap share is at 56.14%, indicating that while funds are cautious, they have not exited but are instead concentrating in higher-confidence assets and protocols.

Decoupling Signal: RWA Is No Longer the “Shadow” of Bitcoin

The most notable feature of this cycle is that the total value of on-chain RWAs has stabilized and surpassed traditional DeFi lock-up volumes.

According to primary industry data cited by Chainlink, the total on-chain RWA value fluctuates between $140 billion and $180 billion, while DeFi remains between $90 billion and $120 billion.

What does this mean?

In the past, “asset on-chain” was believed to rely on the wealth effect generated by a crypto bull market. But the reality is that even if Bitcoin consolidates or retraces, demand from traditional financial institutions for tokenized bonds, loans, renewable energy capacity, and precious metals continues to surge.

Typical cases:

• CoinVex’s EC Treasury recently completed a multi-million dollar funding round, partnering with Hong Kong-listed Ocean Group to build an RWA treasury by allocating mainstream crypto assets, precious metals, and stocks.
• The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), in collaboration with over 20 companies, has developed technical standards for on-chain physical assets, regarded as a “5G-like standard,” greatly reducing the cost of on-chain verification for IoT and AI server assets.

This “decoupling” itself is strong evidence of reduced systemic risk. When the driving force behind RWAs shifts from speculation to the real economy’s efficiency needs, the destructive cycle naturally diminishes.

Three Technical Pillars: How Chainlink “Locks” Risk?

Nazarov attributes the current resilience of RWAs to the maturity of three core infrastructures, forming the core interpretation of “systemic risk controllability” in this article:

From “Available” to “Trustworthy”

RWA data requirements are far higher than those for DeFi speculation. Net asset values, dividend distribution contracts, collateral status must be real-time and tamper-proof. Chainlink has become the standard data provider for tokenized funds (like Fidelity), with diverse data sources reducing the risk of chain reactions caused by oracle failures.

Cross-Chain and Cross-System “Networking”

Traditional financial back-end systems (accounting, risk control) and public blockchains have inherent disconnects. Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP) is playing the role of “TCP/IP for the financial internet.” This connection is not just token cross-chain but controls the transmission of risk events across systems.

Automating Complex Workflows

Advanced RWAs (such as real estate income rights拆分, photovoltaic power station revenue tokens) involve multiple steps, including off-chain IoT data, on-chain distribution, and compliance checks. Chainlink’s runtime environment enables AI, multi-data-source, multi-chain coordination into a single automated process, reducing operational risks from manual intervention.

Compliance as Risk Control: Spillover Effects of Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Regulations

By the end of July 2025, the total on-chain RWA market value exceeded $25 billion. Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2030, this could reach $10 trillion.

The premise of this explosive growth is not technology but regulatory clarity.

Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Regulations provide a clear path for RWA issuers to achieve compliant tokenization. Compliance is not opposed to innovation but a fire extinguisher for systemic risk. Clear rules around asset verification, custody separation, and anti-money laundering screening give institutional investors confidence to participate.

Gate’s encyclopedia data shows that, despite a price correction (currently at $0.002595), the number of token holders for representative RWA projects like RWA Inc. (RWAINC) has exceeded 73,000, and ecosystem development has not stagnated due to price volatility.

Narrative Divergence Between Price and Value

For investors, understanding RWA requires accepting an counterintuitive fact: token price fluctuations are diverging from business progress.

In the short term, LINK faces technical resistance at $9.51, RSI near 30.30 indicating oversold conditions, and market sentiment is pessimistic.

Long-term, if Nazarov’s prediction that “the total on-chain RWA value surpasses the total market cap of cryptocurrencies” comes true, current low prices may represent a historic valuation mismatch window.

Summary

The true value of Chainlink’s recent statement is not about being bullish or bearish but about declaring that the crypto industry is moving out of “black swan dependency.”

Controllable systemic risk does not mean individual asset prices won’t fall but that when one node fails, the virus can no longer infect the entire network. The acceleration of RWA on-chain is essentially a hybrid advantage of traditional financial risk management frameworks and blockchain transparency.

For traders on Gate, paying attention to RWAs no longer means only watching BTC. The $140 billion valuation anchor is operating 24/7, continuously redefining the boundaries of finance.