Tokenized Assets Surge to $7.4 Billion as Investors Shift Away From DeFi

By Lidia Yadlos

DeFi may be slowing, but tokenized real-world assets are moving in the opposite direction. Deposits of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) across decentralized lending platforms and exchanges have surged from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion over the past year, according to new research from CoinShares and Token Terminal, reported by Decrypt.

The report points to a growing shift in on-chain markets. While overall DeFi deposits declined by approximately 15% between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, capital continued flowing into tokenized versions of traditional assets such as U.S.

Treasuries, gold and equities, suggesting investors are becoming more selective about where they deploy funds on-chain.

Traditional Assets Are Driving On-Chain Activity

The same trend is visible in trading volumes. According to the report, spot trading volumes for tokenized RWAs increased by approximately 220% over the past year, while aggregate spot volumes across decentralized exchanges fell by roughly 70%.

Activity in tokenized perpetual markets also continued expanding despite the broader market slowdown, with RWAs now representing more than 25% of all on-chain perpetual futures open interest. Rather than rotating into crypto-native tokens, investors are increasingly trading familiar financial products that have been brought onto blockchain networks.

Tokenized U.S. Treasuries and multi-strategy funds, including BlackRock's BUIDL, JTRSY and sUSDS, account for the largest share of collateral held across lending platforms. Private credit products such as JAAA, syrupUSDC and PRIME also continue attracting capital, while tokenized gold recorded the highest spot trading volumes. In perpetual markets, activity has centered on oil, precious metals, the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and semiconductor stocks.

The report found that most activity remains concentrated on Aave, Morpho and Kamino, while Plasma has emerged as the second-largest ecosystem following Aave's expansion beyond Ethereum. Solana's share has been driven primarily by Kamino's native tokenized asset lending platform.

Although deposits and trading activity have accelerated, revenue growth has yet to follow. CoinShares and Token Terminal describe the sector as still being in the early stages of adoption, with application revenues declining across most lending and trading platforms during the period.

One notable exception is Hyperliquid, which generated more application revenue than any other trading or lending protocol and overtook both Ethereum and Solana as the highest revenue-generating blockchain.

Last month, it was reported that tokenized real-world assets accounted for more weekly trading volume on Hyperliquid than crypto assets for the first time, with South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix emerging as the platform's most-traded stock.

A Broader Shift Toward Tokenization

Earlier this year, tokenized real-world assets reached $24.8 billion in market value even as DeFi's total value locked declined. Analysts have attributed part of that shift to higher yields available through tokenized Treasury products compared with compressed returns across many DeFi protocols.

Traditional asset managers are also expanding their on-chain offerings. BlackRock recently launched two additional tokenized money market funds, followed by tokenized share classes for European money market funds managing a combined $311 billion in assets.

Despite the recent momentum, tokenization remains a small fraction of global financial markets. CoinShares estimates that only around $2.2 billion of the world's equity market, valued at more than $100 trillion, has been tokenized so far. The report compares today's market to the early stablecoin industry in 2019, suggesting the sector is still in the early stages of institutional adoption.

Published on Blockster

Tokenized Assets Surge to $7.4 Billion as Investors Shift Away From DeFi