RWAs have been one of DeFi’s fastest-growing segments this year, with their total value growing threefold since January, according to fresh data shared today by market analyst Sentora. Currently, total RWA TVL stands at $17.1 billion, up from $7.8 billion noted at the beginning of January this year, as per data from DeFiLlama.
RWAs (real-world assets) are tangible, physical assets with economic value (such as real estate properties, commodities, currencies, equities, and others), which are tokenized with the use of blockchain technology. The tokenization involves creating a digital representation of such tangible assets on blockchain to reflect the value and ownership of such assets, enabling them to be purchased, sold, and traded on DeFi (decentralized finance) platforms.
Real-world assets (RWAs) have been one of DeFi’s fastest-growing segments this year, with total value up ~3× since January. pic.twitter.com/7wjXmdk6RV
— Sentora (previously IntoTheBlock) (@SentoraHQ) December 28, 2025
Factors Behind RWA Momentum
The tokenization of RWAs started in early 2023, and in March of that year, RWA protocols had less than $1 billion in TVL. In early this year, the value of RWAs stood at $5.5 billion, but rapidly tripled to about $18.6 billion over the course of the year. In October 2025, the TVL in the RWA tokenization sector climbed to an undisputed ATH of $18.036 billion, currently hovering at $17.09 billion.
Together with the surge in TVL, the tokenized real-world sector has become one of the best-performing segments in the DeFi market year-to-date. This year, the value of RWA protocols rose by 210.72% (from the $5.5 billion TVL experienced in January to $17.09 billion recorded today, December 28). The rise is even more huge compared to March 2023, when TVL was less than $1 billion, recording 1,709% growth so far. This immense growth demonstrates that RWAs are becoming a foundation of DeFi, making assets accessible to international investors.
Reaching the current $17.09 billion in RWA TVL shows a strong demand and confidence in tokenized real-world assets. Some of the key catalysts fueling this traction include diversification, liquidity, yield generation, and regulatory compliance.
First, RWAs provide an opportunity for global investors to diversify their investment portfolios beyond traditional assets like bonds and stocks. Secondly, various RWA protocols play an important role in increasing liquidity in DeFi markets by opening up real-world asset investment opportunities to the mainstream audience.
Thirdly, innovative yield farming with RWAs provides multiple benefits that attract both institutional investors and individual customers. Lastly, improved friendly regulatory frameworks have also been crucial for accelerating institutional confidence and adoption of RWAs.
Top-performing RWA Marketplaces
The data reported today by Sentora further listed top-performing RWA marketplaces, including U.S. Treasuries, commodities, private credit, institutional alternative funds, and others.
Although the landscape of tokenized assets is expanding quickly, the current market is majorly dominated by on-chain US treasuries, as identified in the data. As of today, December 28, 2025, the TVL of tokenized U.S. Treasuries has reached $8.89 billion. This shows the role that U.S. Treasuries play in the tokenization sector, massively trusted by global investors.
Second on the list is the tokenized commodities, which are also gaining significant traction among investors. The TVL of tokenized commodities has climbed to a high of $3.9 billion currently, representing an 11.55% rise over the past 30 days, as per RWA xyz metrics. This surge comes when prices of Silver and Gold reached new ATHs last week, with the tokenized commodities market increasing by almost $3 billion since the beginning of the year.
The tokenized private credit market is in the third position with its TVL currently standing $1.764 billion, according to DeFiLlama data.
