It is real and it is used by a number of hosts and a number of plug-ins.
Whether it will reach a critical mass is another matter.

It'll be a struggle between those who don't want to support yet another plug-in format, those who think CLAP may reconcile all those plug-in formats into one, those who'd like to keep their format under tight rein and so on.

It's notable for me that a number of the hosts support Linux or originally came from Linux and that a good percentage of the plug-ins support Linux. That'll be neither here nor there for many, but it's quite important for some of us. It may be more important than it seems, though, because if I would like a tool, my first question is "is it available on Linux?". If it is, I'll likely get it, if it isn't I'll likely next look for a Linux alternative, if I can't find one but there's a trial/demo Windows version I'll try is in Wine. Only if I have no other choice will I use it in Windows. At present I think I have only one "won't work on Linux" application that I use, my PCB CAD system. But I'm trying KiCad.

That said, I now have a number VSTs and most(?) have behaved properly within the yadbridge VST wrapper.

Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11
BIAB2025 Audiophile, a bunch of other software.
Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts
.