RWA deposits triple to $7.4B as DeFi activity falls

RWA deposits across decentralized lending and trading platforms reached $7.4 billion during the second quarter of 2026, more than tripling from $2.3 billion one year earlier, according to an Aug. 6 CoinShares report produced with Token Terminal.
Summary

• RWA deposits more than tripled from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion within one year period.
• Tokenized asset spot volume increased 220% while broader decentralized exchange activity declined approximately 70% yearly.
• Almost 70% of deployed RWA collateral remained within Ethereum based lending markets during the period.
• TradeXYZ recorded approximately twentyfold volume growth as demand expanded for tokenized perpetual futures markets worldwide.
• Tokenized equities reached approximately $2.2 billion, leaving adoption tiny beside global stock markets overall.

The increase occurred as total DeFi deposits declined approximately 15% between the second quarters of 2025 and 2026. Spot trading in tokenized real world assets also rose about 220%, while aggregate decentralized exchange volume fell roughly 70%.

CoinShares said the divergence supports its view that tokenization is becoming "structural, not cyclical." The figures show stronger use of tokenized assets during a weaker period for crypto markets. However, they do not establish that demand has become independent of market cycles.
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The report covers distributed tokenized funds, stocks and commodities that can move into external wallets. It excludes primarily represented assets on networks such as Canton and Provenance, meaning the results do not measure every institutional tokenization project.

RWA deposits show assets moving beyond issuance

The onchain value of tokenized funds, stocks and commodities had already exceeded $40 billion before the latest report. The $7.4 billion deposited into lending platforms and decentralized exchanges provides a separate measure of assets being used after issuance.

What happens when tokenised assets keep growing while the broader crypto-native market slows?

For @jmmognetti, that divergence points to something structural: demand driven by financial utility, not market cycles.

Explore Hybrid Finance 365, by CoinShares and @tokenterminal :... pic.twitter.com/mJ1r2wrwaK --- CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) August 24, 2026

Investors can deposit tokenized funds as collateral and borrow stablecoins without selling the underlying position. Yield bearing collateral can continue producing income while supporting a loan, reducing the opportunity cost associated with locking capital.

Tokenized Treasury and multistrategy funds supplied much of the growth. CoinShares named JTRSY, BlackRock's BUIDL and Sky's sUSDS among the largest contributors. Private credit products included JAAA, PRIME, syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT.

Delta neutral products such as Ethena's sUSDe also contributed. These instruments carry different risks from Treasury funds because returns may depend on derivatives funding, collateral management and counterparties rather than government securities alone.

As previously reported, tokenized Treasury products are increasingly serving as active DeFi collateral. The shift gives tokenized assets utility beyond holding and transferring an onchain representation.

The distinction matters because market capitalization only measures outstanding value. Deposits show how much capital has moved into financial applications, although one asset may appear across several protocols or interact with multiple contracts.

Ethereum controls most tokenized collateral liquidity

Almost 70% of RWA deposits covered by the report were allocated to Ethereum based lending venues. Established platforms including Aave and Morpho benefited from deeper stablecoin liquidity, larger borrower networks and longer operating histories.

Plasma ranked as the second largest ecosystem, helped by Aave's expansion beyond Ethereum. Solana followed, with much of its collateral activity concentrated on Kamino.

This concentration illustrates a network effect. Borrowers prefer markets offering abundant liquidity and competitive rates. Lenders prefer venues where borrowing demand already exists. New networks must attract both groups while establishing reliable infrastructure.

Ethereum's lead does not mean competing networks cannot gain share. Lower costs and faster execution may appeal to retail users and high frequency traders. However, moving collateral to a new network also introduces bridging, liquidity and smart contract considerations.

In related coverage, Aave expanded tokenized asset lending beyond Ethereum through its Avalanche deployment. The expansion shows established protocols can export liquidity and risk infrastructure rather than requiring new ecosystems to build lending markets from the beginning.

The U.S. angle remains central because many leading products hold U.S. Treasury securities, private credit or equities. Their tokens may settle on public blockchains, but investor rights still depend on issuers, custodians, transfer restrictions and applicable securities laws.

Tokenized asset trading grew as wider DEX volume fell

Tokenized asset spot trading rose approximately 220% year over year, despite a roughly 70% contraction in total decentralized exchange activity. The RWA market started from a much smaller base, making percentage growth easier than in established crypto markets.

Tokenized gold products XAUT and PAXG generated a large share of spot activity. Traders used them to adjust exposure during changes in the gold price. Ethena's sUSDe also contributed after liquidity migrated from Uniswap v3 to Uniswap v4.

Ethereum and Solana accounted for most RWA spot volume. Arbitrum, Base and BNB Chain had not developed comparable activity during the measured period, according to CoinShares.

Tokenized equities were the fastest growing category by holder count. As previously reported, Solana captured most early xStocks trading activity following the platform's 2025 launch.

CoinShares estimated that approximately $2.2 billion in equities had been tokenized. That remains a small amount compared with a global stock market valued above $100 trillion.

The report compared the stage of tokenized equities with stablecoins in 2019. This is an analogy rather than a forecast. Stablecoin adoption does not guarantee that tokenized stocks will follow the same growth path, particularly because equities involve shareholder rights, corporate actions and market access restrictions.

RWA perpetual futures attract committed capital

RWA activity also expanded on decentralized perpetual futures platforms. TradeXYZ, an RWA focused venue built on Hyperliquid, recorded approximately twentyfold volume growth after launching.

Trading centered on oil, precious metals, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and major technology and semiconductor stocks. These markets offer continuous price exposure outside the operating hours of traditional exchanges.

Perpetual futures do not generally provide ownership of the referenced stock or commodity. Traders post collateral, often stablecoins, and receive leveraged exposure to price movements through derivatives contracts.

Open interest increased alongside trading volume. This provides evidence that capital remained in outstanding positions rather than only generating short bursts of turnover. However, open interest also introduces liquidation and leverage risks.

Hyperliquid led the applications studied by CoinShares in absolute revenue. It captures value at both the trading application and settlement layers because its exchange operates on its own infrastructure.

Despite RWA growth, application revenues across lending and trading venues declined year over year. Crypto native activity still generates most revenue, so the expanding RWA segment was not yet large enough to offset the wider slowdown.

What comes next for tokenized assets?

CoinShares expects utility, consolidation, monetization, specialization and product development to shape the next 18 months. Those outcomes remain the company's outlook rather than confirmed developments.

Near term growth will depend on whether tokenized assets can sustain borrowing demand, secondary market liquidity and derivatives activity without relying heavily on incentives. Revenue growth will also matter because rising deposits do not automatically create profitable applications.

The market is splitting between institutional and retail products. BlackRock's BUIDL had average wallet balances measured in millions of dollars, while tokenized equities attracted smaller average holdings and faster user growth.

Yields across the products studied ranged from approximately 3.2% to 5.5%. Treasury products occupied the lower end, while private credit, lending vaults and funding strategies offered higher returns alongside additional risks.

As crypto.news reported, Standard Chartered projected $4 trillion in tokenized assets by 2028. That figure is an external forecast, not a CoinShares estimate or guaranteed market outcome.

The firmer evidence is historical: RWA deposits, spot activity and derivatives usage all expanded during the measured year. Whether the trend continues will depend on liquidity, regulation, legal enforceability and the performance of the platforms holding investor funds.

Frequently asked questions

What are RWA deposits? {#faq-question-1787563210062}

RWA deposits are tokenized funds, stocks or commodities placed into decentralized lending or trading applications. They may serve as collateral, provide liquidity or support other financial transactions.

How large were RWA deposits in Q2 2026? {#faq-question-1787563217726}

CoinShares and Token Terminal measured $7.4 billion in deposits, up from $2.3 billion during the second quarter of 2025.

Why does Ethereum hold most RWA collateral? {#faq-question-1787563228047}

Ethereum has established lending protocols, deep stablecoin liquidity and a large borrower base. These factors make it easier to use tokenized assets productively.

Do tokenized stock perpetuals provide share ownership? {#faq-question-1787563234839}

No. Perpetual futures normally provide leveraged exposure to a stock's price without ownership, voting rights or a direct claim on the underlying shares.

Did RWA growth raise DeFi application revenue? {#faq-question-1787563241851}

Not enough to reverse the wider decline. CoinShares found that overall lending and trading application revenue fell because crypto native activity still represents most business volume.
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