When real-world assets (RWAs) finally became the crypto industry's narrative du jour, Sunny Lu, the founder and CEO of VeChain, could only smile.

Real-world assets (RWAs) may be the hot new topic in crypto, but Sunny Lu, the founder and CEO of VeChain, has been focused on the integration of blockchain and Web2 for almost as long as he's been in the industry.

When asked by CoinDesk at Consensus 2025 in Toronto if he's happy to finally see the industry talking about RWAs, Lu replied with a smile: “I mean, we were doing this back in 2017. Back then, no one cared about RWAs.”

Back then—eons in crypto years—some of the projects VeChain was involved with included a dairy traceability project in China, working with Walmart China on food safety, and tokenizing carbon credits in 2018 with BYD as it was transforming from a regional car brand to an up-and-coming global giant.

"We were ahead of our time,” Lu said.

Now, at Consensus Toronto, Lu will be delivering a keynote titled “Real Decentralization for Mass Adoption,” detailing VeChain’s new approach to scaling RWAs and blockchain use beyond the crypto-native crowd.

A roadmap that involves turning human behavior itself into a tokenizable asset and bridges crypto’s usability gap with AI agents and NFT-based staking.

Tokenizing human behavior

VeChain aims to transform everyday actions like recycling or driving an EV into something measurable and valuable on-chain.

Linking real-world behavior to blockchain rewards through tools like VeBetterDAO and Tesla integrations, it’s creating a new class of tokenized assets, rendering sustainability measurable and incentivized on-chain.

“We’re not just tokenizing big assets,” Lu said. “We’re tokenizing the invisible ones that didn’t have market value before.”

Lu calls this “tokenizing human behavior,” a concept VeChain first explored in 2019 as a prototype through its partnership with BYD, where they tracked EV mileage to generate carbon credits.

AI Agents for the Web 2 Crowd

But real-world value is meaningless if people can’t access it. Crypto remains intimidating for most users, and Lu believes AI is the answer.

VeChain is integrating an AI agent into its VeBetterDAO ecosystem, starting with a character named “BMO,” a virtual assistant that can guide users through staking, app interaction, and eventually optimize their token strategies across the VeChain network.

“People don’t want to memorize seed phrases,” Lu said. “They want a Tesla login or a Google ID. They want to click a button and participate. Our AI agent will help them do exactly that.”

VeChain’s upcoming integrations will allow users to log in with social credentials or even Tesla accounts. For instance, EV charging data can flow automatically into smart contracts and generate carbon credit rewards without user intervention.

“We’re removing friction from every part of the stack,” Lu said. “It’s like moving from Linux command line to macOS.”

NFTs as Infrastructure

To enable broader protocol-level participation, VeChain is revamping its staking system. Instead of requiring technical expertise or relying on centralized validators, users will soon be able to mint NFTs that represent their staked assets and delegate them directly to node operators.

“You don’t have to give up custody,” Lu said. “Block rewards go directly from the protocol to you, no middleman. It’s more secure, compliant, and easier for the average user.”

This system, part of what Lu calls the VeChain Renaissance upgrade, aims to boost participation by lowering the technical barriers while preserving decentralization.

“This is real decentralization,” Lu said. “Everyone else talks about it. We’re building it.”

10-Year Anniversary

Lu’s keynote at Consensus in Toronto will also mark a personal milestone: ten years since he first presented VeChain in New York back in 2015. This time, he’s coming with receipts and plans to showcase real-world traction from VeChain’s AI and sustainability initiatives at Consensus.

Mugshot, a DeFi app that rewards users for reusing their coffee mugs and not buying disposable cups, is approaching one million users. Another project, EVEarn, which integrates Tesla’s API to automatically convert EV charging data into on-chain rewards, boasts a 98% retention rate.

“In Web3, that’s insane,” Lu said. “Almost every user keeps coming back every week. That tells you the experience is working.”

For Lu, the future of crypto won’t be won by hype cycles or flashy tokens. It will be earned through usability.

“The goal is mass adoption,” he said. “Real decentralization is the foundation. But adoption, that’s the destination.”