Plume Dominates RWA Market — But Why Is PLUME Still 60% Down?

In the Real-World Assets (RWA) market, Plume has quickly attracted more than 50% of investors. This success is not merely a marketing story but reflects a shift in how crypto investors approach RWA.

According to a report from Tiger Research, the number of RWA holders on Plume increased from 167,000 in June to more than 200,000 in September. The market concentration is more notable than the growth rate: Plume accounts for over 50% of all crypto RWA investors, meaning that one out of every two people investing in tokenized real-world assets is doing so through Plume.

Three Factors Behind Plume’s Success

This dominance has three main reasons. First, unlike traditional financial institutions that often focus on cost efficiency, Plume (PLUME) has chosen a “DeFi-first” approach. According to Tiger Research, the project prioritizes yield and composability within the DeFi ecosystem. Plume’s RWA tokens can be used for lending, liquidity provision, or as collateral.

This convenience and composability quickly attracted the crypto-native community, which is familiar with cycling assets to maximize returns. It is a competitive edge that traditional-style RWA models cannot easily replicate.

Tokenized assets on Plume. Source: Messari

According to another report from Messari, Plume launched with $65.8 million in tokenized assets, which increased to $170 million by September 15, 2025. Data from rwa.xyz shows 144 tokenized assets on the network, distributed across more than 202,000 addresses. Superstate, Nest, and Mercado Bitcoin deploy the most significant holdings by market share.

DeFi activity on Plume has also surged since its mainnet launch in June 2025. As of September 15, the Total Value Locked (TVL) reached $577.8 million and $4.9 billion in PLUME.

Plume’s TVL. Source: Messari

Next, according to Tiger Research, the project has proactively engaged with the SEC, US regulators, and authorities across Asia to establish a more transparent framework and minimize unexpected risks. This approach has been described as a “regulatory moat” — a protective shield and a competitive advantage.

Finally, beyond RWA, Plume has also set its sights on the Bitcoin (BTC) market. With an estimated $2.18 trillion in BTC stored but underutilized, the project aims to turn BTC into “programmable capital.”

If successful, this would be a significant breakthrough in unlocking massive capital for DeFi. At the same time, however, it brings technical challenges (smart contract risk, custody) and regulatory hurdles (how authorities classify tokenized Bitcoin products).

The Price of PLUME Being Reflected Accurately?

However, is this success truly being reflected in the price of PLUME? Plume, a Web3 RWA project, prioritizes crypto-native values like yield and accessibility. It creates a new ecosystem while mitigating regulatory risks through proactive policy engagement. Its dual positioning bridges Web3 and traditional finance, driving strong growth potential in the RWA market and BTCFi.

PLUME price performance. Source: BeInCrypto

However, the price of PLUME does not seem to reflect the project’s growth trajectory. At the time of writing, data from BeInCrypto shows PLUME is trading at $0.0969, about 60% below its all-time high.

As BeInCrypto reported, the price of PLUME spiked more than 30% after its launch on Binance a month earlier. However, the price quickly fell below pre-listing levels due to a wave of whale sell-offs and profit-taking. At the time, investor concerns about the token unlock added to the ongoing selling pressure.