Bybit has launched RWA Earn, a platform that brings professionally managed institutional bond funds directly to crypto traders through tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), eliminating traditional gatekeeping barriers like accreditation requirements and fragmented onboarding. The exchange partnered with Plume, an open finance platform, and DigiFT, a regulated digital asset exchange licensed in Singapore and Hong Kong, to offer two tokenized institutional bond funds managed by PIMCO and China Merchants Bank International.

What Are Real-World Assets and Why Do They Matter for DeFi?

Real-world assets are traditional financial instruments, like bonds and securities, that are converted into digital tokens and placed on blockchain networks. This tokenization allows these traditionally gatekept investments to reach a broader audience without requiring users to leave their crypto wallets or exchanges. For DeFi (decentralized finance), RWAs represent a bridge between the crypto ecosystem and traditional finance, offering institutional-grade yields without the protocol risk that comes with chasing unsustainable DeFi yields.

The bond market represents roughly a trillion-dollar opportunity that has long been inaccessible to crypto-native investors. Bybit's RWA Earn addresses this gap by allowing eligible users to subscribe to two specific tokenized bond funds, both denominated in USDC (a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar). The platform eliminates subscription and redemption fees, and Bybit covers all on-chain gas fees (the computational costs of blockchain transactions) for users.

Which Bond Funds Are Available Through RWA Earn?

Bybit is debuting with two distinct products designed to serve different investment preferences. The first fund, the PIMCO Dynamic Income Opportunities Fund (PDO), is managed by PIMCO, one of the world's largest fixed-income managers with over $2.26 trillion in assets under management and more than 50 years of investment experience. This fund allocates dynamically across corporate debt, mortgage-backed securities, government bonds, bank loans, and emerging market instruments, with a focus on generating current income. It is available at zero fee for eligible Bybit users.

The second offering is the CMBI Investment Grade Bond Fund (CMIGB), managed by CMB International Asset Management, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank Group, one of China's largest and oldest financial institutions. This fund targets stable returns from investment-grade bonds across Asian and global credit markets, with an average credit rating of BBB+, a portfolio duration of 3.24 years, and a competitive annual percentage rate (APR). No subscription or redemption fees apply to this product either.

Both funds are tokenized through DigiFT, which is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The underlying assets are held in institutional custody by State Street Bank (for PDO) and CMB Wing Lung Trustee (for CMIGB), ensuring that user funds are protected by established financial institutions.

How Does Tokenization Enable Broader Access to Institutional Finance?

Tokenization works by converting traditional financial assets into digital representations on a blockchain. This process removes intermediaries and simplifies the onboarding process, allowing crypto-native investors to hold positions in the same fixed-income strategies that sovereign wealth funds and pension managers rely on, without leaving the crypto ecosystem. Plume provides the on-chain infrastructure through its compliant vaults, enabling Bybit users to put their stablecoins to work and access institutional-grade yields directly from their existing accounts.

"Crypto traders have never had a straightforward way to access institutional bond markets. RWA Earn brings professionally managed fixed-income strategies on-chain, fully subscribed in USDC. Together with our partners, Bybit is taking down legacy barriers that have long kept crypto-native investors from institutional opportunities," said Jerry Li, Head of Financial Products and Wealth Management at Bybit.

Jerry Li, Head of Financial Products and Wealth Management at Bybit

Steps to Understanding How RWA Earn Fits Into the Broader DeFi Landscape

• Stablecoin Growth: The stablecoin market cap surpassed $300 billion in 2026, creating a massive pool of capital that crypto users have traditionally kept idle or deployed into high-risk DeFi protocols. RWA Earn offers a middle ground by providing institutional-grade yields with lower risk.
• Institutional Adoption: Bybit's 80 million-plus users now have access to products that institutional investors have trusted for decades, integrated into a simple and compliant user experience. This signals how crypto infrastructure is increasingly being used to widen access to global capital markets.
• Regulatory Compliance: Both tokenized funds are processed through regulated infrastructure, with DigiFT holding dual licenses in Singapore and Hong Kong. This regulatory framework provides the institutional-grade compliance that traditional finance requires, making it possible for established asset managers like PIMCO to participate.

The launch of RWA Earn coincides with an inflection point for the broader RWA sector. As tokenized real-world assets gain traction as a structural trend across both traditional and decentralized finance, platforms like Bybit are demonstrating that compliant tokenization infrastructure and mass distribution are no longer in tension. Instead, they can work together to democratize access to institutional financial products.

"This partnership with Plume, Bybit and DigiFT demonstrates what happens when institutional grade onchain infrastructure meets global distribution. For too long, crypto users have had to choose between leaving stablecoins idle or chasing unsustainable DeFi yields with protocol risk. Now Bybit's 80M+ users will gain access to products that institutional investors have trusted for decades in a simple and integrated user experience on top of our safe and compliant infrastructure," said Chris Yin, CEO of Plume.

Chris Yin, CEO of Plume

Bybit has been at the forefront of bringing traditional finance (TradFi) products to crypto markets since 2024, introducing contract for difference (CFD) trading, tokenized equities, and perpetual contracts covering assets including precious metals and artificial intelligence stocks. RWA Earn marks the next frontier in Bybit's RWA strategy, extending the platform's reach into institutional fixed-income for the first time.

It is important to note that RWA Earn is not principal protected, meaning users face the risk of loss. The APR figures shown are based on historical net asset value (NAV) performance, are not guaranteed, and may change over time. Actual returns may differ materially from historical performance. Availability varies by jurisdiction and user eligibility.