USDTokenized RWA Deposits Triple as Broader DeFi Activity Contracts
Traditional assets gain traction across onchain lending, spot markets and derivatives
TL;DR
- Tokenized real-world asset deposits rose from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026.
- Broader DeFi deposits fell about 15%, while tokenized-asset spot trading increased 220%.
- Treasury products, gold tokens, private credit and traditional-market derivatives drove the expansion.
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Tokenized real-world asset deposits across decentralized lending platforms and exchanges more than tripled between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, even as the wider DeFi market contracted, according to findings released by CoinShares and Token Terminal on August 6, 2026.
The findings showed that RWA deposits increased from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion during the period, while total DeFi deposits declined by approximately 15%. The two articles carrying the findings were published at 1:22 p.m. EDT and 4:07 p.m. UTC.
Growth was driven almost entirely by conventional financial products brought onto blockchain infrastructure rather than crypto-native assets. Tokenized Treasury and multi-strategy funds led the collateral segment, followed by private credit products and delta-neutral strategies.
JTRSY, BlackRock’s BUIDL and sUSDS were identified among the leading Treasury and multi-strategy products. Investors used those instruments to maintain exposure to income-generating assets while deploying them as collateral across decentralized financial applications.
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Gold tokens and traditional-market perpetuals expand
Tokenized spot-market activity rose while wider decentralized exchange trading weakened. Gold-backed tokens, including XAUT and PAXG, accounted for a significant portion of the growing RWA trading segment.
Volumes and open interest also increased in perpetual futures tied to real-world assets despite a broader slowdown that began in October 2025. Activity was concentrated in contracts referencing oil, precious metals, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 and semiconductor stocks.
CoinShares said the findings supported its “Hybrid Finance” thesis, which holds that investors are moving conventional financial exposure onto blockchain infrastructure rather than abandoning traditional assets.
“Look at what is actually being used on-chain: Treasuries, gold, the S&P 500, semiconductor stocks. Not one of them is a crypto asset,” CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti said.
“Investors are not leaving traditional finance behind. They are moving traditional assets onto infrastructure that settles in seconds and does not close at night. That is convergence, not disruption.”
Taran Dhillon, head of digital assets at Kula, an investment firm focused on RWAs, said industry measures of tokenization had previously emphasized issuance rather than active financial use.
“For the past few years, success in tokenization has largely been measured by the value of assets brought on-chain,” Dhillon said.
Dhillon said tokenized assets were increasingly being used as productive financial instruments. “Their growth, despite a broader slowdown across DeFi, suggests demand is being driven by utility rather than market sentiment,” he added.
Ethereum leads collateral as other platforms gain roles
Ethereum remained the dominant blockchain for tokenized assets, hosting nearly 70% of RWA collateral used in DeFi lending. CoinShares and Token Terminal also found that Plasma and Solana were gaining share.
Solana strengthened its position in tokenized-asset spot trading, while Hyperliquid emerged as a leading venue for tokenized perpetual futures. The findings placed Ethereum at the center of lending collateral while identifying growing activity on other platforms in spot and derivatives markets.
Tokenized assets nevertheless remained a small part of global financial markets. About $2.2 billion of the more than $100 trillion global equity market had been tokenized, a stage CoinShares compared with the early stablecoin market in 2019.
RWA.xyz placed the cumulative value of onchain real-world assets at about $37.89 billion, excluding stablecoins. U.S. Treasury debt remained the largest category, followed by commodities, active investment strategies and stocks.
The $37.89 billion figure covered the broader value of onchain RWAs, while the deposit figure measured assets deployed across the lending platforms and decentralized exchanges included in the CoinShares and Token Terminal findings.
FAQ
What drove the increase in RWA deposits?
Tokenized Treasuries, multi-strategy funds, private credit and delta-neutral strategies.
Which blockchain held the most RWA lending collateral?
Ethereum, with nearly 70% of the measured collateral.
Which assets led tokenized spot trading?
Gold-backed tokens, including XAUT and PAXG, accounted for a significant share.
Which venue led tokenized perpetual futures?
Hyperliquid emerged as a leading venue for that market.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
