[Recap] How RWAs are Reshaping Investments on Tezos

On July 29th, 2025, The Tie hosted a webinar exploring how Polkadot-based solutions bridge institutional requirements with retail accessibility. Moderated by Heidi Pickett, Chief Business Officer at The Tie, the discussion featured Alessandro De Carli of Acurast, Alan Vey of Aventus, and Braxton Woodham of Frequency. The conversation centered on practical applications spanning decentralized compute networks, enterprise blockchain solutions, and social infrastructure protocols.

Acurast transforms everyday smartphones into powerful infrastructure components, sourcing computation from devices worldwide including those sitting idle in drawers. "We realized that the mobile security aspect can also be used to power a decentralized cloud," Alessandro explained. Following a $5.4 million funding round in May 2025, institutional interest has surged around unexpected use cases. AI agents now leverage the distributed network for web scraping at scale, avoiding anti-bot mechanisms that block traditional data center IPs.

The platform's security advantages stem from smartphone hardware security modules, which contrary to common assumptions, offer superior protection. "Mobile devices are by far more secure than any sort of data center hardware out there, period," Alessandro stated, noting that smartphones were designed from the ground up to handle sensitive operations in uncontrolled environments, enabling applications like managing 820 bitcoins entirely through automated execution.

Aventus has evolved from event ticketing to comprehensive enterprise blockchain solutions spanning supply chain logistics, retail loyalty, and energy markets. The platform's Layer 3 app chain capabilities, developed with Sky and MVP Studios, emerged from client feedback. "This was really a result of client feedback," Alan explained, noting that enterprises wanted fine-grain control while maintaining Polkadot interoperability.

Real-world implementations demonstrate practical value. The Atmos cargo management solution at Heathrow Airport achieves up to 80% cost reductions, while SI Predict with Sports Illustrated showcases prediction markets for media companies. Regarding user experience, Alan emphasized simplicity: "They want to come with their email address and their credit card, and they want to place some predictions and the rest of it they really don't care about."

Frequency addresses social infrastructure decentralization through population-scale capabilities, recently achieving a significant milestone. "We just recently decentralized Blue Sky basically put all of the Blue Sky fire hose on Frequency. So now we have over 10 million people now posting on social networks," Braxton announced. The platform's capacity-based pricing model solves institutional adoption barriers through predictable resource allocation. "You can stake tokens and say I want 100 units of capacity for the next week," he explained, contrasting this with volatile transaction fee models.

Beyond social networking, expansion into shared AI context represents the next frontier. Users could maintain conversation continuity when switching between AI models, with individuals rather than platforms serving as the anchor point. "Sign in with Frequency" aims to replace corporate authentication systems with decentralized alternatives.

All platforms emphasized abstracting blockchain complexity while preserving decentralization benefits. Solutions include embedded wallets enabling email-based onboarding and AI interfaces allowing natural language interaction. Alessandro highlighted AI's potential: "All of a sudden, you're capable of sharing your intention by just basically writing what you want to do, and the AI will optimize it for you."

The emerging ecosystem reveals significant cross-platform collaboration potential, where Aventus app chains could utilize Acurast's compute network while leveraging Frequency's social infrastructure. Historical parallels to DeFi Summer's composability breakthrough suggest similar innovation waves across non-financial applications.

Each platform outlined ambitious roadmaps for the remainder of 2025. Frequency is prioritizing "sign in with Frequency" as a decentralized alternative to corporate authentication systems, with particular focus on agentic AI applications where users maintain control over their conversational context across different AI models.

Aventus expects significant growth in both enterprise app chains and consumer-facing prediction markets, with the SI Predict platform serving as a flagship example of blockchain technology reaching mainstream audiences through familiar interfaces.

Acurast anticipates its mainnet upgrade will unlock significant value for compute providers currently operating on testnet, while expanding enterprise adoption of secure AI agent environments where credentials can be safely stored and managed.

Polkadot-based solutions are successfully addressing real-world challenges across infrastructure, enterprise applications, and social protocols. From Acurast's smartphone-powered compute network securing millions in digital assets to Aventus's enterprise solutions achieving dramatic cost reductions, and Frequency's population-scale social infrastructure supporting over 10 million users, these platforms showcase the practical value of decentralized technology. The emphasis on user experience abstraction, regulatory compliance, and ecosystem interoperability positions these solutions to bridge the gap between institutional requirements and retail accessibility. As the platforms continue to mature and integrate with emerging AI technologies, their combined impact could significantly accelerate mainstream adoption of decentralized infrastructure across multiple verticals.