Preface: What are we talking about when we talk about RWA?
In 2024-2025, the RWA market was incredibly hot. Wall Street giant BlackRock issued a tokenized US Treasury fund, and tokenized shares of Tesla and Apple appeared on platforms like Kraken and Solana. Especially in Hong Kong, which is actively embracing Web3, everything from real estate income rights to GCL Technology's photovoltaic power plants to Longxin Technology's charging stations seems to be moving from concept to reality.
We are excited about RWA's ability to revitalize physical assets, lower financing barriers, and increase liquidity. But does all this sound familiar?
As early as 2012, a Chinese developer named "Baomao" had already fully implemented all of this, even more thoroughly than today's model, more RWA-like, and more "Web3-like."
1. The Birth of a Legend
"Fried Cat," whose real name is Jiang Xinyu, is a name steeped in legend. At 15, he was admitted to the Junior Class at the University of Science and Technology of China and later went on to study at Yale University. He was a top-tier talent. In 2011, he keenly grasped the potential of Bitcoin and became active on the international Bitcoin forum (bitcintalk) under the handle "friedcat." He was no mere strategist. At the crucial juncture when Bitcoin mining shifted from CPUs and GPUs to specialized equipment, his team pioneered the mass production of ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) mining machines, known as the "first generation of chip mining machines," which at one point controlled a significant portion of the global Bitcoin network's computing power.
The crypto world of 2012 was a "Wild West." Bitcoin prices were low, the community was small, there was no venture capital investment, and even less regulation. Trust was based entirely on a person's reputation on the forum.
Baicao faced a practical problem: mass-producing ASIC mining machines required a substantial investment, but the traditional financial world remained closed to him. His investors could only be geeks who believed in the future of Bitcoin. Thus, a financial experiment destined to go down in history began.
II. The First-Ever RWA Issuance Plan
To raise funds, BBQCao avoided seeking venture capital and instead devised a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind RWA issuance plan.
The core of this plan was to tokenize a real-world, profitable company through blockchain technology, enabling an innovative financing, dividend, and trading model. Below is a detailed analysis of its specific structure and mechanisms. 1. Physical Assets: A Solid Value Foundation The project's underlying asset is Bitfountain Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Bitfountain). Bitfountain is a registered entity in Shenzhen. Its core value stems from businesses that generate sustainable cash flow, including an ASIC mining production line, the hashrate of its mining farm, and the projected future returns from these businesses. This forms the cornerstone of the entire model, ensuring that the issued "shares" are backed by clear, profitable real-world assets (RWAs). 2. Issuance Platform: A Decentralized Choice The issuance will be conducted on GLBSE (Global Bitcoin Virtual Stock Exchange), an early-stage virtual stock platform built entirely on the Bitcoin network. Its most significant feature is decentralization. The entire issuance and trading process completely bypasses traditional intermediaries such as brokerages and stock exchanges, providing a new and efficient channel for the global circulation of assets.
3. Issuance Details: Bitcoin-Based Equity Financing
The shares issued in this offering are called AsicMiner, and each share represents partial ownership in BitQuen. Its issuance structure is similar to a typical equity financing:
Total share capital: 400,000 shares
Public offering: 41% of shares (approximately 163,000 shares)
Issue price: 0.1 BTC/share
The uniqueness of this design is that it does not use the legal currency of any country, but directly uses Bitcoin (BTC) as the unit of fundraising and pricing. 4. Two Core Mechanisms: The Soul of the Model The most striking innovations of this solution are reflected in its two core mechanisms: 1) Automated On-Chain Dividends: This is the core of the entire model. The company promises to automatically and directly distribute weekly profits (in BTC) earned from mining and the sale of mining machines to each shareholder's Bitcoin wallet address based on their shareholding ratio. This mechanism perfectly embodies the principle of "Code is Law." The entire dividend distribution process eliminates the need to trust any third-party financial institution and achieves direct clearing and settlement on the blockchain, making it efficient, transparent, and tamper-proof. 2) 24/7 Global Liquidity: AsicMiner shares can be freely placed and transferred 24/7 on the GLBSE platform. Once the transaction is completed, the ownership of the shares changes instantly, and the new shareholders also receive immediate rights to future dividends. This creates a global secondary market for private company equity, providing liquidity far exceeding that of any traditional private company at the time.
Conclusion: Baked Cat created not just a simple project, but a complete financial closed loop: using on-chain native assets (BTC) to invest in real-world company equity, confirming ownership through on-chain transparent records (GLBSE), enjoying automatic dividends from the on-chain native assets (BTC), and freely trading on the on-chain market (GLBSE).
Third, Legal Analysis: Is This Truly an RWA?
From today's legal and financial perspective, does Baked Cat's AsicMiner shares constitute an RWA?
The verdict is: Unequivocally, yes. It's also one of the purest and most native RWA prototypes to date. Real World Assets: Yes. The shares are anchored to BitSpring's mining machines, mining farms, and future cash flows, representing 100% real economic activity.
On-chain Tokenization: Yes. Although there was no ERC-20 token standard at the time, the shareholding record on GLBSE was a primitive, centralized server-recorded "token" that represented asset ownership and dividend rights.
Connection between assets and tokens: Yes, but extremely fragile. This connection isn't based on the trust or SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) legal structures of modern RWAs, but rather relies entirely on the community's "social contract" with FC's personal credibility. People trust him to honor his promises and share profits. This is fundamentally different from later ICOs: ICOs mostly issue "virtual coins" without real asset backing, while FC's shares are backed by real, profit-generating mining machines. This is the core difference between RWAs and pure cryptocurrencies. From ancient artifacts to modern miracles: FC vs. today's hottest RWAs FC's innovation was a full decade ahead of its time. Comparing the 2012 pioneering project "Baked Cat AsicMiner" with the current (2024-2025) mainstream RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization) global market, we can clearly see the tremendous transformation of this field from a chaotic experiment to an increasingly regulated financial innovation track. 1. Underlying Assets: From Single to Diverse The most obvious difference lies in the breadth of assets. The value proposition of the Baked Cat AsicMiner is very narrow, limited to the equity and future earnings of the mining machine company behind it. Modern RWAs, on the other hand, have an extremely rich and diverse asset pool, encompassing virtually any asset with stable cash flow or a valuation. These include the tokenization of US Treasury bonds being promoted by giants like BlackRock, equity in companies like Tesla and Apple, income-generating real estate, charging stations and photovoltaic power plants in the new energy sector, and even rare works of art. 2. Technical Support: From Centralized Silos to Decentralized Networks The technical approach has also undergone a fundamental shift. Baked Cat relied on the internal database of GLBSE, an early centralized platform. This meant that the issuance and trading of assets were subject to the survival of this single platform. In contrast, modern RWAs are generally built on open, decentralized public chains like Ethereum and Solana, and utilize standardized token protocols like ERC-20 and ERC-1400. This not only enhances asset security and transparency but also lays the foundation for interoperability across different applications. 3. Compliance and Law: From Lawlessness to Compliance as King Compliance is the core difference between the two. The BBQ project was born in a complete legal vacuum, with no KYC (Know Your Customer) identity verification, no financial regulation, and virtually no investor protection. Modern RWAs, on the other hand, prioritize compliance. Their issuance and trading strictly adhere to securities regulations in various countries. This typically requires the establishment of a trust fund or SPV to segregate and custody assets, with issuance handled by a licensed institution. All investors must undergo rigorous KYC and AML screening. 4. Sources of Risk: From Personal Credit to Systemic Risk The composition of risk also shifts accordingly. The main risks facing BBQ are simple yet critical: first, platform risk, such as the collapse of the GLBSE exchange; and second, personal risk, such as the disappearance of its founder, BBQ Cat, which directly led to the project's collapse. The risks of modern RWAs are more complex and systemic, including technical smart contract vulnerabilities, compliance risks arising from changes in cross-border regulatory policies, and the potential default risk of the underlying assets themselves. 5. Core Advantages: From Extreme Efficiency to Security and Trustworthiness Finally, the core advantages pursued by each model reflect the needs of different eras. The appeal of the BBQ model lies in its extreme decentralization and high efficiency, which eliminates all traditional financial intermediaries and minimizes costs. The core advantage of modern RWAs lies in their security and trustworthiness. A comprehensive legal framework provides solid investor protection, and the authenticity of assets is audited and endorsed by third-party professional institutions. This allows them to break through barriers and attract mainstream financial institutions and a wider range of conservative investors. The Essence of Evolution: We see a clear evolutionary path—from unbridled growth based on "personal credibility" to compliant development based on "laws and code." FriedCat proved technologically possible, and today's RWA is filling the gap in the legal and trust infrastructure that was once lacking. V. Peak, Collapse, and On-Chain Ghosts: The Ending and Lessons of FriedCat The story of FriedCat is like a classic Shakespearean tragedy. Initially, AsicMiner was a resounding success, at one point commanding 42% of global computing power. Its stock price skyrocketed from 0.1 BTC to a peak of 5 BTC. Combined with continued BTC dividends, early investors received an astonishing return of over 500 times, creating one of the first legends in the cryptocurrency world. However, technological iteration is brutal. With the rise of competitors like Bitmain, FC's second-generation chip development failed, rapidly eroding its market share. Furthermore, the closure of its issuance platform, GLBSE, and internal conflicts within the company further stymied the project. At the end of 2014, after a mining site inspection, FC's founder, Jiang Xinyu, mysteriously disappeared. His whereabouts remain unknown, becoming one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the cryptocurrency world. His company was deserted, and investors' shares were ultimately wiped out. Despite this tragic end, FC's legacy is profound: He demonstrated the feasibility of the "on-chain asset and on-chain dividend" model, directly inspiring subsequent ICOs, STOs, and even today's RWAs. His failure glaringly exposed the fatal flaw of a lack of legal protection and asset custody. Without compliance, even the most brilliant design is mere castles in the air. To this day, Bitcoin addresses associated with FC still hold enormous assets, and any slight movement can cause ripples in the community. He stands like a ghost on the blockchain, a constant reminder of this wild yet revealing history. [FAQ] Readers' Most Concerned Questions: Quick Questions and Answers Q1: How does FC stock identify investors? Does it require real names? A: Absolutely not. Only Bitcoin addresses are recognized; no KYC (knowledge verification) is required. Dividends and transactions are conducted anonymously on-chain, making them technically transparent but legally unclaimed. Q2: How are dividends distributed? A: FC will aggregate its mining profits weekly and automatically send BTC to shareholder wallet addresses recorded on the GLBSE platform based on shareholding ratios through a program. This involves no banks or intermediaries, ensuring peer-to-peer value distribution. Q3: What is the fundamental difference between FC and ICOs? A: FC shares are "equity" backed by real assets that generate cash flow. ICOs often issue "utility tokens" or "virtual coins" that are typically not tied to company profits and carry no dividend promises. FC shares are more closely related to STOs (Security Token Offerings) and are the direct ancestor of RWAs. Q4: What happened to the investors? A: Early investors profited handsomely from dividends and selling their shares at high prices. However, late-stage investors, and those who still held shares when the project collapsed, lost almost all of their assets due to Friedcat's disappearance and the platform's closure, leaving them with no recourse. Conclusion: Standing on the shoulders of history, where will RWA head? Looking back at the story of Friedcat, we can't help but sigh that history always spirals upward through repetition. Friedcat was a lone pioneer. With his brilliant vision and tragic ending, he foresaw everything about RWA: immense potential and fatal risks. He proved that decentralized technology alone is not enough; it needs to be combined with real-world legal frameworks and trust mechanisms to achieve long-term success. Today, when a licensed institution in Hong Kong issues a compliant real estate RWA product, and when a Wall Street giant moves U.S. Treasury bonds onto the blockchain, they are treading on the very path that FriedCat paved with code and credibility 12 years ago. The future of RWA will inevitably be a dance between technological innovation and regulatory compliance. Only by understanding the story of "FriedCat," the originator of RWA, can you truly understand the past, present, and future of this trillion-dollar financial revolution.
Alex
JinseFinance
Jixu
Catherine
Cointelegraph