Tokenized real-world asset (RWA) deposits on decentralized finance platforms more than tripled year over year to $7.4 billion in Q2 2026, even as traditional DeFi deposits fell 15%. Led by Sky Protocol's sUSDS and BlackRock's BUIDL, tokenized traditional assets are increasingly used as collateral and yield-generating instruments. RWA spot trading volumes rose 220% despite a 70% drop in overall DEX volumes, while Ethereum retained a dominant 70% share of RWA deposits.
RWA deposit growth
- ▪The total market value of onchain tokenized funds, stocks, and commodities exceeded $40 billion by the second quarter of 2026.
- ▪Deposits of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms more than tripled year over year to $7.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up from $2.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
DeFi deposit decline
- ▪Total deposits across traditional decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms fell by approximately 15% year over year in the second quarter of 2026.
- ▪Total application revenues across the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector declined between the second quarters of 2025 and 2026, as real-world asset (RWA) activity remained too small to offset lower crypto-native lending and trading revenues.
Tokenized Treasuries stablecoins
- ▪Sky Protocol's sUSDS led the yield-bearing stablecoin category in the second quarter of 2026, showing 4.61 billion tokens in supply and a 3.52% savings rate at the time of the review.
- ▪BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) served as a major source of onchain collateral in decentralized lending markets during the second quarter of 2026.
- ▪Real-world asset (RWA) products offered yields ranging from approximately 3.2% to 5.5% in the second quarter of 2026, with lower-risk Treasury products at the bottom of the range.
- ▪Yield-bearing stablecoins and tokenized Treasury products emerged as the largest categories of real-world assets (RWAs) deposited across decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms in the second quarter of 2026.
RWA spot trading volumes
- ▪Gold-backed tokens, including Tether Gold (XAUt) and Paxos Gold (PAXG), generated significant trading volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) in the second quarter of 2026.
- ▪Spot trading volumes for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) rose approximately 220% year over year in the second quarter of 2026.
- ▪Aggregate spot trading volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) fell by approximately 70% year over year in the second quarter of 2026.
RWA derivatives perpetual futures
- ▪Onchain real-world asset (RWA) derivatives trading on tradeXYZ concentrated around commodities, equity indexes such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, and technology stocks.
- ▪Trading volume on the real-world asset (RWA) perpetual futures platform tradeXYZ, built on Hyperliquid, increased approximately 20 times from its launch to the second quarter of 2026.
Ethereum network concentration
- ▪Plasma ranked as the second-largest network for tokenized real-world asset (RWA) deposits in the second quarter of 2026, followed by Solana.
- ▪Ethereum-based lending markets held nearly 70% of all tokenized real-world asset (RWA) deposits in the second quarter of 2026.
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