RWA.io‘s latest research notes that blockchain-driven innovation coexists with liquidity frictions that impede cross-network capital flows. Tokenized real-world assets (RWA) are increasingly showing fragmented markets rather than a single integrated system, as identical assets trade at divergent prices across chains. Cross-chain transfers remain costly and complex, limiting arbitrage and, consequently, dampening price discovery across networks.

On a quantitative basis, the study reports price differentials of roughly 1% to 3% for economically identical assets on major networks. Transfer costs, slippage, and gas fees drive losses of 2% to 5% per reallocation, with an average near 3.5%. If fragmentation persists, annual friction could siphon about $600 million to $1.3 billion from the market. Marko Vidrih, Co-Founder and COO of RWA.io, calls fragmentation the principal barrier to the sector’s trillion-dollar potential, likening it to Europe’s SEPA Instant model for rapid value transfer.