Key Takeaways
- • Tokenized real-world asset (RWA) deposits in DeFi more than tripled year-over-year, climbing from $2.3 billion in Q2 2025 to $7.4 billion in Q2 2026, according to research from CoinShares and Token Terminal.
- • Total DeFi deposits contracted approximately 15% over the same period as investors withdrew capital and token prices declined, creating a sharp divergence where RWAs represent the fastest-growing segment while broader DeFi stagnated.
- • Tokenized Treasury and multi-strategy funds—including JTRSY, BUIDL, and sUSDS—drove the majority of growth, with Aave, Morpho, and Kamino platforms hosting the deepest liquidity pools for these assets.
- • CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti characterized the shift as structural rather than cyclical, noting that only $2.2 billion of the global $100 trillion equity market has been tokenized to date, suggesting significant upside potential.
- • Ethereum wallet data shows a spike in addresses created specifically to hold tokenized assets throughout late 2025 and early 2026, corroborating on-chain activity and indicating institutional and retail participation in the RWA segment.
Summary
Tokenized real-world assets are experiencing accelerating adoption within decentralized finance, defying sector-wide headwinds. Over a twelve-month period from Q2 2025 through Q2 2026, RWA deposits tripled to $7.4 billion from $2.3 billion, even as total DeFi deposits fell approximately 15% amid broader market contraction. This divergence represents one of the sharpest splits observed in on-chain finance data and signals a fundamental shift in capital allocation patterns within blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
The growth was concentrated in specific asset classes and protocols. Tokenized Treasury instruments and multi-strategy funds—particularly JTRSY, BUIDL, and sUSDS—led the expansion. Liquidity provisioning for RWAs remained concentrated on three major platforms: Aave, Morpho, and Kamino. This concentration reflects early-stage market maturation, where established lending protocols are capturing the majority of deposits seeking exposure to on-chain real-world assets.
According to CoinShares and Token Terminal's analysis, which tracked on-chain activity metrics throughout the measurement period, this growth trajectory appears structurally driven rather than cyclical. Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of CoinShares, emphasized that tokenization remains in its infancy relative to traditional markets, with only $2.2 billion of the $100 trillion global equity market currently represented on-chain. This observation suggests that current adoption levels may represent an early phase of a much larger market migration.
Supporting evidence from Ethereum wallet data strengthens the case for sustained institutional and retail interest. Address creation specifically for holding tokenized assets spiked throughout late 2025 and into early 2026, indicating growing participation beyond passive capital flows. The combination of rising deposit volumes, concentrated liquidity on major platforms, and expanding wallet participation across this segment suggests that traditional finance institutions and capital allocators are increasingly utilizing blockchain infrastructure for real-world asset exposure.
The growth was concentrated in specific asset classes and protocols. Tokenized Treasury instruments and multi-strategy funds—particularly JTRSY, BUIDL, and sUSDS—led the expansion. Liquidity provisioning for RWAs remained concentrated on three major platforms: Aave, Morpho, and Kamino. This concentration reflects early-stage market maturation, where established lending protocols are capturing the majority of deposits seeking exposure to on-chain real-world assets.
According to CoinShares and Token Terminal's analysis, which tracked on-chain activity metrics throughout the measurement period, this growth trajectory appears structurally driven rather than cyclical. Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of CoinShares, emphasized that tokenization remains in its infancy relative to traditional markets, with only $2.2 billion of the $100 trillion global equity market currently represented on-chain. This observation suggests that current adoption levels may represent an early phase of a much larger market migration.
Supporting evidence from Ethereum wallet data strengthens the case for sustained institutional and retail interest. Address creation specifically for holding tokenized assets spiked throughout late 2025 and into early 2026, indicating growing participation beyond passive capital flows. The combination of rising deposit volumes, concentrated liquidity on major platforms, and expanding wallet participation across this segment suggests that traditional finance institutions and capital allocators are increasingly utilizing blockchain infrastructure for real-world asset exposure.
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