MANTRA: The newcomer in the RWA track, with a rise of over 64 times in a year

The blockchain Layer 1 project MANTRA, focusing on the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWA), has been making frequent moves recently, attracting widespread attention in the industry. After launching its mainnet in October 2024, the token price surged. Data shows that throughout 2024, MANTRA (OM) experienced a rise of up to 6418.3%, increasing from $0.0584 at the beginning of the year to $3.81 by the end of the year, becoming one of the standout performers among RWA investment projects in 2024.

Middle East Business Expansion: $1 Billion Asset Tokenization Plan

MANTRA recently announced an agreement with a real estate group in Dubai, planning to tokenize at least $1 billion in assets of the group in the UAE. This real estate group has extensive investments in various fields, including real estate, capital markets, hotels and resorts, manufacturing, catering, high-end fashion, and data centers.

This new agreement aims to provide token-based financing for the portfolio companies of the real estate group, covering the fields of real estate, hospitality, and data centers. This collaboration is expected to enhance the accessibility of investments and streamline the process, with the tokenization of these assets scheduled to begin in early 2025.

Currently, MANTRA's business spans multiple regions including Hong Kong and Singapore, but its main operational focus is on the Middle East, particularly Dubai. Last year, MANTRA also reached an agreement with another developer to tokenize real estate assets worth a total of $500 million, with the first project starting from a residential project in Dubai.

In addition, MANTRA has signed a memorandum of understanding with a digital bank authorized by the Central Bank of the UAE, and the two parties will collaborate to develop a framework that supports the tokenization and distribution of RWA, while ensuring compliance with the relevant regulations of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).

Important Milestones in 2024: Financing, Mainnet Launch

2024 is a year full of challenges and opportunities for MANTRA. In March, MANTRA completed a $11 million funding round led by a well-known investment firm. Two months later, MANTRA received a strategic investment from a subsidiary of a large financial institution focused on digital assets.

In terms of technological development, MANTRA has launched a series of RWA-related tools, including Digital Identity (DID), the compliance system MANTRA Guard, the token management system MTS, Decentralized Exchange (DEX), and the Liquidity Efficient Emission Protocol (LEEP). These modules work together to achieve efficient management and liquidity of RWA tokenized assets.

Among them, the MANTRA Token Service (MTS) is a comprehensive module that allows for the creation, management, and control of tokenized assets on the MANTRA Chain. MANTRA DEX introduces a protocol layer liquidity pool system that provides core support for the platform's decentralized finance (DeFi). The MANTRA LEEP, currently under development, aims to address the widespread liquidity shortage issues in the crypto market, particularly for assets other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.

On October 23, 2024, the MANTRA mainnet officially launched, marking the project's entry into a new development phase. Users can now bridge OM tokens from ERC-20 to the MANTRA mainnet, stake OM to secure the network and earn rewards, as well as participate in new on-chain tasks to earn KARMA.

Future Outlook: Three-Phase Development Strategy

The CEO of MANTRA stated that the project's goal is to become a ledger for asset issuance or RWA. He emphasized the importance of establishing a public blockchain that can be compatible with the broader DeFi ecosystem, while MANTRA has also built a permissionless layer that enables asset issuers, tokenization platforms, and regulated trading venues to easily, compliantly issue, distribute, and manage RWA.

MANTRA is expanding its DApp ecosystem, including a secondary market, a soon-to-be-licensed on-chain RWA liquidity hub, and collaborations with various DeFi providers in lending, borrowing, and fractional real estate products. Additionally, the company is exploring applications in areas such as private credit, payments, and carbon credits.

The CEO outlined a three-phase approach to developing the RWA space: the first phase focuses on the supply side, bringing high-quality assets onto the chain; the second phase will focus on liquidity and secondary market venues; and the final phase will unlock the composability of RWAs, allowing them to be used across different DeFi applications.

MANTRA has set an ambitious goal: to reach a TVL of $100 billion in RWA by the end of 2026. Although progress is currently relatively slow, the company is attracting new funds, new capital, and new participants into the space, believing that over time, these efforts will create a snowball effect, ultimately bringing MANTRA to a leading position in the RWA space.

Overall, MANTRA has shown strong development momentum and great potential in the RWA tokenization field. With the project's ongoing expansion in regions such as the Middle East, MANTRA is expected to occupy an important position in the RWA track. The industry will continue to pay attention to MANTRA's subsequent developments to assess whether it can become a leader in the RWA field.