RWA deposits across lending platforms and decentralized exchanges reached $7.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, more than tripling from $2.3 billion a year earlier, according to a report published Aug. 6 by CoinShares.
Over the same period, total DeFi deposits fell about 15% as investors withdrew funds and crypto prices weakened.
The data marks a shift from token issuance toward active financial use. CoinShares said the onchain market value of tokenized funds, stocks and commodities had already passed $40 billion. The $7.4 billion figure covers assets deployed in lending and trading venues, rather than the sector’s entire issued value.
RWA deposits grow while broader DeFi contracts
Tokenized Treasury and multistrategy funds supplied much of the increase. The report named JTRSY, BlackRock’s BUIDL and Sky’s sUSDS among the leading contributors. Private credit products, including JAAA, syrupUSDT, syrupUSDC and PRIME, followed, while Ethena’s sUSDe represented a delta neutral strategy.
Over the past 365 days, real-world assets (RWAs) have moved beyond tokenisation into increasingly active onchain markets.
Together with @tokenterminal, we look at the growth of Hybrid Finance across deposits, trading and derivatives, and what could define its next phase.… pic.twitter.com/D8kEvM1A6j
— CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) August 6, 2026
These products can continue generating income while serving as collateral, reducing the cost of locking capital in a lending market. Deposits remained concentrated on established venues such as Aave, Morpho and Kamino. Nearly 70% sat in Ethereum based lending markets, while Plasma ranked second and Solana’s share was driven largely by Kamino.
Ethereum’s lead reflects liquidity already available to borrowers and lenders. Newer networks must attract assets, borrowers and market makers at the same time. Established markets can build on existing activity, making migration harder even when rival chains offer lower costs.
Trading data shows assets gaining secondary markets
RWA spot trading volume climbed about 220% year over year while aggregate decentralized exchange volume fell roughly 70%. Tokenized gold products XAUt and PAXG generated much of the activity as traders responded to movements in bullion prices. Ethena’s sUSDe also contributed after liquidity moved from Uniswap v3 to v4.
The rise indicates that tokenized products are developing secondary markets where investors can transfer ownership without returning directly to issuers. As previously reported in earlier market coverage, the wider market had already expanded sharply during 2026, led by Treasury products and Ethereum.
Activity also grew in perpetual futures. TradeXYZ, an RWA focused venue built on Hyperliquid, recorded an approximately twentyfold increase in volume since launch. Trading centered on commodities, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and technology stocks, while open interest continued rising.
These contracts provide leveraged price exposure rather than ownership of the underlying security or commodity. Their growth therefore measures demand for continuous market access, but it should not be combined with tokenized fund deposits when calculating assets under management.
U.S. Treasury products turn yield into collateral
The report’s largest collateral group included products linked to U.S. government debt and yield bearing dollars. BlackRock’s BUIDL has also moved into institutional trading workflows. Securitize said in April that eligible OKX clients could post BUIDL as collateral while Standard Chartered held it outside the exchange.
The arrangement supports the report’s finding that issuance is becoming financial infrastructure. In related collateral coverage, BUIDL was added to a framework that treated the fund alongside dollar assets used for institutional margin.
Sky showed 4.61 billion sUSDS in supply and a 3.52% savings rate when reviewed. Sky states that the rate is set through governance, can change and is not guaranteed. Ethena likewise says sUSDe rewards depend on income from backing assets and are distributed through a protocol mechanism.
CoinShares measured yields across the products at about 3.2% to 5.5%. Treasury funds sat near the lower end, while private credit, lending vaults and funding rate strategies offered more return alongside different collateral, liquidity and counterparty risks.
The report also found a divide between investor groups. BUIDL wallets held average balances in the tens of millions of dollars, while tokenized equities had smaller average balances and faster holder growth. Recent fund coverage also showed how institutional collateral use and retail access are developing through different products.
Revenue data shows RWA activity remains early
RWA lending and trading expanded, but application revenue fell across the wider DeFi sector between the second quarters of 2025 and 2026. The report said RWA activity remained too small to reverse weaker revenue from crypto native borrowing and trading.
Hyperliquid generated more application revenue than the other venues studied because it captures fees at both the exchange and settlement layers. However, the report did not claim that RWA markets produced most of that revenue. Its broader derivatives business remains the main driver.
CoinShares CEO Jean Marie Mognetti said growth during a DeFi downturn showed demand was driven by “financial utility, not by market cycles.”
The statement is CoinShares’ interpretation of the divergence. It does not prove that RWA demand is insulated from crypto prices, interest rates or changing liquidity conditions.
The study also has a defined scope. It covers transferable, or distributed, tokenized funds, stocks and commodities. It excludes represented assets on networks where tokens are not broadly movable into the lending and trading venues examined.
Over the next 18 months, the clearest measures will be collateral deposits, spot volume, open interest, holder growth and the revenue that applications retain. CoinShares said RWA activity is “likely” to become a larger revenue source if it keeps growing faster than crypto native markets. This remains a forward looking view rather than a confirmed outcome.
