The total value of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) reached $26 billion, a roughly fourfold increase from prior tallies, according to a PYMNTS.com tally.

The figure marks the continuation of a multi-year build-out in which traditional financial instruments—private credit, U.S. Treasuries, money-market fund shares and structured products—are issued as on-chain tokens governed by smart contracts rather than held solely in legacy custody systems.

Which asset categories dominate the on-chain ledger?

Private credit has emerged as the single largest tokenized RWA bucket, followed closely by tokenized U.S. Treasury products. Together, the two categories account for the majority of on-chain RWA value. Commodities, real estate and structured credit represent smaller but growing allocations.

The Treasury segment has drawn asset managers including BlackRock, whose USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) fund launched on Ethereum in 2024, and Franklin Templeton, which has expanded its OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund. The presence of regulated issuers has shifted the conversation from speculative token issuance to balance-sheet integration.

What is driving the fourfold growth?

Three structural forces underpin the increase, according to industry observers tracking tokenization data:

• On-chain credit markets have matured through protocols such as Maple, Centrifuge and TrueFi, creating rails for institutional borrowers and lenders.
• Tokenized Treasury products have given crypto-native treasuries, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and trading firms a programmable, 24/7 alternative to bank deposits and repo.
• Regulated asset managers have entered the segment, anchoring tokenization in existing fund structures.

The market also reflects a regulatory posture that, in the United States, has grown more accommodating toward tokenized fund products. The Securities and Exchange Commission has not blocked the issuance of tokenized money-market or Treasury products structured as registered funds.

What are the operational consequences?

The expansion carries direct implications for market infrastructure. Custodians, transfer agents and prime brokers have begun building or adapting services to handle tokenized fund shares. Settlement providers, including the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, have explored tokenization rails to compress settlement cycles.

For DeFi, the consequences are more pronounced. Lending markets operated by Aave, MakerDAO and Spark have integrated tokenized Treasuries and yield-bearing instruments as collateral, allowing on-chain positions to be backed by regulated, off-chain income. The integration tightens the link between traditional capital markets and on-chain liquidity.

That linkage raises unresolved questions about the operational and regulatory perimeter when a tokenized Treasury share circulates as collateral in a permissionless lending pool, particularly during stress events that trigger rapid liquidations.

What should readers watch next?

The near-term trajectory will likely depend on whether additional asset managers file for tokenized share classes of existing funds and whether U.S. regulators formalize a taxonomy for tokenized collateral. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the SEC have signaled continued engagement with tokenization through speeches and rulemaking consultations.

No binding tokenization standard has yet been issued, leaving the perimeter to be defined through enforcement actions and supervisory guidance. The $26 billion figure, if sustained, suggests tokenization has moved past the experimental phase into early mainstream adoption, and the next reporting cycle will reveal whether the fourfold growth rate persists into 2026.