The market for tokenized real-world assets has nearly tripled in a single year — and that may only be the beginning. By the end of June 2026, on-chain value across tokenized RWAs reached $32.22 billion, up from roughly $11.8 billion a year earlier. Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, sees this as the early innings of a far larger shift, projecting that assets deployed in DeFi could hit $2.7 trillion by 2030.
Key takeaways
- Tokenized RWA on-chain value reached $32.22 billion by June 2026, nearly triple the $11.8 billion recorded a year prior.
- US Treasuries lead all asset categories at $15 billion on-chain, with BlackRock’s BUIDL fund alone surpassing $2.9 billion in total asset value by June 2025.
- Only 10% of tokenized RWAs are currently used in DeFi; Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick projects that share rising to 30% by 2030.
- The DTCC launched a pilot for tokenized securities trading in May 2026, with a possible commercial launch by October.
- The SEC approved Nasdaq’s proposal to allow certain stocks to be traded and settled via tokens, signaling a broader regulatory green light.
Rapid growth — and what’s actually driving it
The numbers are striking, but the more important question is why tokenized real-world assets are accelerating now. The answer combines regulatory momentum, institutional demand for yield-generating on-chain instruments, and a DeFi ecosystem that is finally mature enough to absorb traditional financial products.
Kendrick’s forecast isn’t just aspirational math. Currently, only 10% of tokenized RWAs find their way into DeFi protocols. If that figure climbs to the projected 30% by 2030, the volume of traditional assets flowing through decentralized infrastructure would represent a fundamental rewiring of how financial markets operate. Total RWA asset holders have already grown to 937,928, up 13% in a single month, according to data from RWA.xyz.
Even setting aside the long-range projections, the present-day numbers tell a story of an asset class moving from experiment to infrastructure.
US Treasuries: the anchor of tokenized finance
US Treasuries are the largest tokenized asset category, with $15 billion in on-chain value — and their dominance makes intuitive sense. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are familiar, low-risk, liquid, and generate yield in a way that standard stablecoins cannot.
BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, launched in March 2024, became the flagship example. It surpassed $2.9 billion in total asset value by June 2025 and operates across eight blockchains — Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, Aptos, and BNB Chain — a multi-chain footprint that signals genuine institutional commitment rather than a proof-of-concept. In February 2026, Uniswap Labs and Securitize made BUIDL shares available for trade on UniswapX, placing a major regulated institutional fund directly on a decentralized exchange.
“This is the unlock we’ve been working toward: bringing the trust and regulatory standards of traditional finance to the speed and openness for which DeFi is known,” said Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize.
Franklin Templeton’s BENJI token, representing its OnChain US Government Money Fund, has reached $2.44 billion. Other significant products include Circle’s USYC at $3.1 billion, Ondo’s suite at $3.7 billion, and WisdomTree’s WTGXX at $764 million.
Private credit and the yield premium
Private credit — loans issued and held by non-bank institutions — has emerged as a compelling RWA category precisely because it offers something Treasuries cannot: higher yields. Tokenization also addresses one of private credit’s most persistent structural problems: capital lockups that can last years. A corporate treasurer or asset manager holding tokenized private credit positions can now transfer them on-chain, use them as collateral, or redeem them far more flexibly.
Maple Finance and Stokr are the leading platforms in this space, each holding roughly 22% market share. Combined, tokenized private credit stands at approximately $6.2 billion — a category that barely registered three years ago.
Stocks and ETFs: small now, big soon
Tokenized equities currently represent $2.19 billion in on-chain value, a modest share of total RWAs — but one that grew by nearly 50% in just the past thirty days. Several developments are converging to accelerate that growth further.
In May 2026, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced plans to pilot tokenized securities trading. This is not a peripheral experiment: the DTCC clears and settles almost all US stock trades and custodies over $114 trillion in securities. The pilot covers Russell 1000 equities, major index ETFs, and US Treasuries, with more than 50 financial firms participating — including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Circle, Ondo Finance, and Ripple Prime. A full commercial launch is possible by October 2026.
Ondo Finance has moved aggressively in this space. The firm now holds roughly 60% of the tokenized equity market through its Global Markets platform. In March 2026, it partnered with Franklin Templeton to tokenize five ETFs, and in April, it teamed with Broadridge Financial Solutions to allow holders of tokenized stocks and ETFs to submit voting preferences for underlying shares. Most recently, Ondo Finance’s perpetual futures platform became the first to allow traders to use tokenized stocks as collateral — enabling pre-alpha users to trade perpetual futures tied to commodities like oil and gold, as well as popular equities. The platform’s 24/7 permissionless trading is available to traders outside the US, Panama, and other prohibited jurisdictions.
“We are rapidly approaching an investing experience that is, quite frankly, far better than what a traditional brokerage account can offer,” said Ian De Bode, President of Ondo Finance.
Gold and commodities: the market that never closes
Tokenized gold is the largest commodity sub-category, and 2026 gave it a stress test that no one anticipated. When US–Iran tensions escalated earlier in the year, traditional markets were closed. Tokenized oil and gold markets were not. Wall Street trading desks found themselves using on-chain perpetual futures as the only available venue for pricing risk-off assets during off-hours.
Weekend volumes on on-chain commodity perpetuals have increased ninefold since the beginning of 2026. On-chain perpetual futures for commodities now make up more than 67% of builder-deployed contracts on decentralized exchanges. Tokenized commodities peaked at $5.8 billion in March 2026 before pulling back to $4.7 billion currently, with gold making up a substantial majority.
Perhaps more significant than the size is the maturity signal: the correlation between tokenized gold and traditional gold markets crossed the 0.70 threshold in Q1 2026, a historically weak relationship that has strengthened considerably. The on-chain market is no longer pricing in isolation — it is becoming part of the global price discovery process.
Real estate: the category with the most distance to travel
Real estate tokenization is still small — $202.7 million in on-chain value — but 2026 brought meaningful regulatory milestones. Dubai’s Land Department opened the second phase of its tokenization project in February 2026, enabling tokenized property units for resale. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission approved real estate tokenization products from Derlin Holdings in the same quarter. The appeal is structural: fractional ownership allows investors to hold proportional claims on rental income and trade positions without waiting for a full property sale.
Institutional adoption and the regulatory moment
The regulatory picture is shifting at a pace that institutional participants hadn’t expected. In March, the SEC advanced Nasdaq’s proposal to allow certain stocks to be traded and settled via tokens. Analysts expect a broader approval of stock token trading — with SEC Chair Paul Atkins widely anticipated to extend an innovation exemption that would formally open the door for tokenized equities at scale.
What makes this moment analytically interesting is the convergence: the DTCC pilot, the SEC’s movement on Nasdaq’s proposal, and the broad participation of major Wall Street firms aren’t happening in parallel by coincidence. They reflect an institutional consensus that tokenized securities infrastructure is coming, and that the firms which build fluency with it now will hold structural advantages when volume scales. The question that remains is not whether traditional assets will migrate on-chain — it’s which asset categories and which platforms will command the new market.
FAQ
What is the current market size for tokenized real-world assets?
The market reached $32.22 billion in on-chain value by June 2026, nearly tripling from $11.8 billion a year earlier.
Which assets dominate the tokenized real-world assets market?
US Treasuries lead with $15 billion on-chain value, followed by private credit at $6.2 billion, tokenized gold at $4.7 billion, tokenized stocks and ETFs at $2.19 billion, and real estate at $202.7 million.
How is regulation evolving around tokenized securities in the US?
The SEC approved Nasdaq’s proposal for certain stock tokens to be traded and settled on-chain. The DTCC launched a pilot for tokenized securities trading starting May 2026, with a possible commercial launch by October. Broader regulatory approvals are widely anticipated.
What growth is expected for tokenized RWAs in DeFi?
Currently, 10% of tokenized RWAs are used in DeFi protocols. Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick projects that share rising to 30% by 2030, with total DeFi assets potentially reaching $2.7 trillion.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
