RWA Successfully Used for Movie Financing? Lessons from the Thai Market
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RWA Successfully Used for Movie Financing? Lessons from the Thai Market
The RWA market is expected to evolve into a stable alternative investment opportunity for institutional investors, while offering retail investors a range of benefits and utilities beyond investment returns.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy RYAN YOON AND YOON LEE
Translated by TechFlow
Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has become one of the most closely watched topics in the crypto space. In this domain, Thailand’s Destiny Token experiment stands out as a relatively successful case of tokenized fundraising—offering valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges within the RWA market.
Summary
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Potential of the RWA market: Tokenizing real-world assets holds immense potential to unlock value from under-financialized assets
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Thailand's RWA market: Thailand tested the feasibility of tokenized fundraising through the "Destiny Token" project, yet the RWA market remains in its infancy
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Future of the RWA market: The market is poised to offer institutional investors stable alternative investment opportunities and deliver benefits beyond returns for retail investors, though several hurdles remain.
Early Interest in the RWA Market
Many experts believe that tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) will be one of the key narratives driving the future of crypto markets. The RWA market is closely tied to financial innovation—the core purpose of blockchain technology—particularly in transforming non-financialized assets into valuable financial instruments. Tokenization of various assets, including art and real estate, is already underway. Technological progress is also evident, with the Solana Foundation recently announcing an expansion of the Solana Program Library (SPL) to support the RWA market.
Nevertheless, the RWA market remains in its early stages. To date, tokenization of traditional assets such as U.S. Treasuries has dominated the market. While various tokenized products have been developed since the market became active, it has been difficult to clearly understand their actual sales performance and limitations. In this context, Thailand’s case is particularly noteworthy: the country successfully conducted a token-based fundraising in 2022 and completed an early redemption in 2023, offering crucial insights into the development of the RWA market.
Thailand’s Open Environment for ICOs
Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses
Below are two excerpts from the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses:
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Digital Token Portal Service Provider: Refers to a service provider that operates an electronic system for issuing new digital tokens, responsible for verifying the characteristics of proposed digital tokens, the eligibility of issuers, and the completeness and accuracy of registration forms, draft prospectuses, or any other information disclosed through the platform.
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Section 17, Chapter 3: When offering newly issued digital tokens to the public, the issuer must be a private limited company or public limited company and obtain approval from the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), submitting a registration statement and draft prospectus containing details specified in SEC notifications.
In May 2018, Thailand became the first country in Asia to enact cryptocurrency legislation and permit ICOs, positioning itself as a market leader. In November 2023, the government further classified ICOs to create a more transparent and secure market. The new regulations primarily target debt-based ICOs and infrastructure-supported ICOs, specifying detailed review and disclosure requirements based on product type.
At the industry level, commercial banks are now permitted to establish subsidiaries to engage in cryptocurrency brokerage services. In 2022, financial institutions were restricted from investing more than 3% of their capital in the crypto market—a measure interpreted as allowing banks to help revitalize the market while maintaining stability through limits on exposure.
Thailand’s First Tokenized Fundraising: “Destiny Token”
About the DESTINY Investment Token
Project details are summarized in the table below:
Thailand’s Destiny Token project attracted widespread attention as the country’s first token-based fundraising initiative. The project aimed to raise funds for the film "Love Destiny," produced by GDH 559 Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GMM Grammy, Thailand’s largest integrated entertainment company. The fundraising campaign was conducted in the first half of 2022 by Kubix, a subsidiary of Kasikornbank.
The project raised a total of 265.23 million Thai baht (approximately $7.96 million). It was redeemed ahead of schedule in 2023, delivering investors a base return of 2.99% over a maximum two-year investment period, plus an additional 2.01% performance-based return tied to the film’s success. Beyond financial returns, investors received recognition in the film’s closing credits for their contribution, along with exclusive perks such as invitations to special events and the movie premiere.
Given that Thailand’s deposit interest rate is around 0.51%, investors achieved a relatively high return. This suggests the fundraising was successful. However, it has now been over a year since the early redemption of the Destiny Token, and no other tokenized fundraising projects have emerged—highlighting that the RWA market remains in its early stage.
Market Still in Early Stages
Challenges for Retail Investors
The first inconvenience lies in the KYC verification process. Currently, Kubix requires three pieces of personal information during registration:
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Identification card details, including the number on the back of the card
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Bank account information
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NDID (National Digital ID) registration and verification
All information must be entered or verified during registration—a complexity not unique to Thailand. The registration process is cumbersome, requiring participants to fill out detailed forms and submit photos for verification.
Additionally, investments exceeding 300,000 THB ($8,400 USD) require registration as a "special large investor," meaning applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria—a restrictive standard mirrored in other jurisdictions:
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Annual income exceeding 6 million THB ($169,000 USD)
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Securities investments totaling at least 30 million THB ($845,000 USD), including deposits valued over 1.5 million THB ($422,000 USD)
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Net worth exceeding 60 million THB ($1.7 million USD), excluding the value of primary residence
Evaluation Process
According to our discussions with Kubix, the main reasons for delays in launching new projects include difficulties in convincing asset holders to participate and lengthy evaluation processes.
Despite successful and secure projects like Destiny Token, persuading new asset holders to join tokenization initiatives in an early-stage market appears to require significant time and effort.
Moreover, ICO regulations were revised in November 2023, resulting in finer product classifications and additional documentation requirements. These changes have made the project review process more complex and time-consuming. Although Kubix plans to launch new products in the future, these factors are expected to delay upcoming project rollouts.
What We Need to Know About the RWA Market
RWA Appeals to Institutional Investors Seeking Stability
First, RWA product yields are unattractive to many crypto investors. With major exchanges like Binance and OKX offering staking annual percentage yields (APY) as high as 10%, the maximum 5% annual return from projects like "Destiny Token" appears relatively low. For retail investors unfamiliar with crypto, these rates may seem underwhelming, while restrictive sales terms and complex evaluation procedures present additional barriers.
For institutional investors, however, the picture differs. While retail investors may perceive platforms like Binance and OKX as safe, unexpected events such as the FTX collapse reveal inherent risks in holding funds on centralized exchanges. Projects like Destiny Token can serve as viable alternatives for institutions, as exchange deposits do not offer capital efficiency.
Furthermore, targeting a small number of institutional investors can significantly reduce customer support costs—potentially substantial given the complexity of the registration process. This improves operational efficiency and lowers management overhead.
Offering Diversified Token Benefits for Retail Investors
When targeting individual investors, it's important to note that Destiny Token offered various benefits to its holders. For example, the "HAPPYDAY TOKEN" allowed investors to attend select events alongside film guests, enjoying lunch together, taking commemorative photos, and watching the movie. These utilities provided appealing added value for film enthusiasts and created a unique experience beyond mere financial investment. Thus, such utility-driven benefits can serve as strong incentives for retail participation.
Conclusion
The RWA market, exemplified by Thailand’s Destiny Token project, has become an important case study illustrating both the possibilities and limitations of tokenizing real-world assets. The RWA market remains in its infancy, facing numerous challenges. Innovative projects like Destiny Token are testing the potential of this emerging market and providing valuable perspectives for all stakeholders.
The RWA market is expected to evolve into a space offering institutional investors stable alternative investment opportunities and delivering benefits beyond financial returns for retail investors. However, obstacles such as limited product availability, complex qualification procedures, and lengthy regulatory reviews persist—requiring continued coordination between regulators and new service providers prioritizing investor protection. It is hoped that the challenges and successes of Thailand’s RWA regulation and the Destiny Token project will provide valuable lessons for future initiatives.
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