Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) continued to expand their role across decentralized finance (DeFi) over the past year, defying a broader slowdown in crypto-native activity, according to a CoinShares report on Thursday.
Tokenized assets defy broader crypto slowdown
The report noted that while overall DeFi deposits fell about 15% between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, RWA deposits across lending platforms and decentralized exchanges more than tripled from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion.
“The divergence from broader DeFi trends suggests that demand for tokenized assets is increasingly supported by their financial utility rather than by crypto market conditions alone,” CoinShares wrote.
CoinShares stated that the growth marks a shift beyond simple issuance, with tokenized assets increasingly being deployed as productive collateral across on-chain financial services.
The firm mentioned that yield-bearing tokenized funds have become the dominant of the growth, followed by private credit products including JAAA, syrupUSDT, syrupUSDC and PRIME, alongside delta-neutral offerings such as sUSDe
Ethereum (ETH) also maintained its lead as the primary blockchain for RWA-backed lending, hosting nearly 70% of all RWA deposits. Plasma (XPL) emerged as the second-largest ecosystem following Aave’s expansion beyond Ethereum. On the other hand, Solana’s (SOL) growth was largely driven by Kamino (KMNO).
CoinShares noted that established ecosystems continue benefiting from strong liquidity network effects, making them the preferred destination for borrowers and lenders.
“Borrowers prefer venues with abundant lending liquidity, while lenders allocate capital where borrowing demand already exists,” CoinShares stated.
The report also highlighted growing activity in RWA spot trading despite weaker conditions across the broader DeFi market. Between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, aggregate spot decentralized exchange volumes declined by roughly 70%, while RWA spot trading volumes increased approximately 220% from a smaller base.
“Although growth has moderated in recent quarters, the divergence from broader DeFi activity suggests that adoption of tokenized assets continues independently of crypto market conditions,” the report said.
Trading activity remained concentrated in tokenized gold and yield-bearing funds, led by XAUT, PAXG and Ethena’s (ENA) sUSDe. Ethereum remained the largest ecosystem for RWA spot trading, with Solana ranking second.
CoinShares also pointed to rapid growth in RWA perpetual futures, which continued expanding even as crypto-native perpetual futures volumes declined after October 2025.
Volumes on tradeXYZ, an RWA-focused derivatives platform built on Hyperliquid, increased about 20-fold since launch. Commodities, equity indexes and semiconductor stocks generated most of the activity, while open interest also continued rising, signaling sustained interest rather than short-term speculative trading.
“The divergence suggests that RWA perpetual futures are attracting new demand rather than simply redistributing existing crypto trading activity,” CoinShares added.
Despite growing RWA adoption, the report noted that application revenues across lending and trading venues declined year-over-year. The reason is that crypto-native markets still account for the majority of industry activity.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) nevertheless remained the highest-earning on-chain application, benefiting from the economics of derivatives trading and its ability to capture revenue at both the application and settlement layers.
CoinShares added that trading platforms such as Hyperliquid (HYPE), Uniswap (UNI) and Aerodrome (AERO) continue to command the highest valuation multiples. The report argued that investors expect trading businesses to generate stronger long-term cash flow growth than lending or asset management platforms. This is due to their higher capital velocity, broader product expansion opportunities and scalable business models.
With a deep passion for web3 technology, he’s collaborated with industry-leading brands like Mara, ITAK, and FXStreet in delivering groundbreaking reports on web3’s transformative potential across diverse sectors.
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