Introduction
Electric Capital recently published 501 Sources of Real-World Yield: What Gets Tokenized Next, where they mapped yield-generating real-world-assets (RWAs) and analyzed which ones have already been tokenized and which ones remain off-chain. We took that framework and asked a different question: which of these 501 yield sources can Switchboard serve as the data layer for?
The answer reveals the current state of oracle infrastructure for real-world assets: what can be brought on-chain today, what needs custom configuration (either at the source or from a privacy perspective), and where the gaps are.
The interactive map
Explore the full coverage map below. Each cell represents one yield source. Hover to inspect which categories are data feed-ready, which need custom data sources, and which require privacy-preserving configurations.
What gets tokenized next?
The 501 yield sources cluster into distinct tiers based on their respective data layer requirements in order for them to be brought on-chain. Each tier represents a different level of complexity Switchboard supports.
Tier 1: Feed-ready today — 132 yield sources
These are the low-hanging fruit: assets with standardized pricing data available through public APIs. Switchboard can already serve as the data layer for Treasury yields, major corporate bonds, and liquid commodity benchmarks. The infrastructure exists; protocols just need to build a feed and deploy it.
For example, Switchboard is currently providing data feeds to power Etherfuse's Stablebonds, digital assets backed by government debt instruments like Mexican CETES, US Treasury Notes, or UK Gilts.
Tier 2: Custom configuration required — 337 yield sources
These assets have data available somewhere (issuer reports, specialty data vendors, regulatory filings) but access to it is limited, and they require custom oracle configuration to bring on-chain. Switchboard's permissionless architecture means any builder with access to this type of data can set feeds up for these assets.
Tier 3: Confidential oracle required — 131 yield sources
These sources, while not necessarily exclusive of being "Feed Ready" or "Partially Ready," involve sensitive or confidential underlying data that cannot be exposed to oracle operators or other on-chain observers.
This includes private credit rates, insurance pricing, proprietary lending terms, TV and film royalties, and more. Switchboard's Trusted Execution Environment infrastructure and Data Feed Variable Overrides feature are critical to bringing these assets on-chain.
| Classification | Sources | Share | Oracle requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feed ready | 132 | 26% | Public APIs, exchange feeds, Bloomberg, EMMA |
| Partial — custom config | 337 | 67% | Data is more difficult to access and needs builder-configured oracles |
| Not feasible | 32 | 6% | Legal non-transferability, dead markets, tax-only |
| Privacy override | 131 | 26% | Requires Data Feed Variable Overrides |
The oracle gap
The oracle gap isn't about whether data exists. The gap is about whether that data can be accessed, verified, and delivered on-chain without exposing the builder or the protocol to unacceptable risk.
In total, Electric Capital's research identified seven barrier clusters preventing real-world yield from coming on-chain. Oracle infrastructure touches every single one. Execution strategies need price feeds. Legal structures need NAV calculations. Cross-border access and bespoke evaluation both benefit from permissionless data feed creation. Physical-world integration needs verifiable data. Market aggregation and specialized origination can be solved with composable, customizable feeds.
Switchboard's architecture — permissionless feed creation, confidential runtimes, multi-chain deployment — is uniquely built to solve these obstacles. The question isn't whether oracle infrastructure can support 501 yield sources. It's how fast the builders are able and willing to deploy the data feeds on-chain.
Methodology
We cross-referenced Electric Capital's full 501-source taxonomy against Switchboard's oracle capabilities across three dimensions: data source accessibility and API availability, complexity of building a data feed via Switchboard, and privacy requirements. The interactive map reflects this classification. The privacy flag is additive: sources marked as "privacy override" may overlap with "feed ready" or "partial" on other dimensions.
This research is part of Switchboard's ongoing contributions to the data layer for decentralized finance. To build your own Switchboard data feed, use the Feed Builder on the Switchboard Labs Explorer app. For questions or to discuss oracle integration for your RWA protocol, reach out on Discord or Twitter.