Key Takeaways
- • Tokenised real-world assets (primarily Treasuries, gold, and equity indexes) surged to $7.4 billion in deposits over the past 12 months, more than tripling year-over-year, according to CoinShares and Token Terminal research published August 6, 2026.
- • Traditional asset classes—not cryptocurrency—dominate on-chain activity: Treasury deposits and multi-strategy funds lead lending venues, gold represents the largest share of spot trading volume in tokenised assets, and equity indexes including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 drive perpetual futures trading.
- • CoinShares' "Hybrid Finance" thesis positions blockchain infrastructure as a rewiring rather than disruption of traditional finance, with evidence showing the convergence movement originating from the traditional finance side, not the crypto sector.
- • Decentralised finance deposits declined approximately 15% during the same period, reinforcing that institutional capital flows are directed toward tokenised traditional assets rather than crypto-native applications.
- • CoinShares' Assets under Management have more than tripled over the past two years through institutional investor inflows, signalling growing institutional adoption of blockchain-based equity and asset exposure through products like the Blockchain Global Equity Index (BLOCK Index).
Summary
CoinShares PLC released research on August 6, 2026, demonstrating that the fastest-growing assets on blockchain infrastructure are traditional financial instruments rather than cryptocurrencies. In collaboration with on-chain data provider Token Terminal, the report titled "The Growth of Hybrid Finance" reveals that tokenised real-world assets accumulated $7.4 billion in deposits over the preceding 12 months—a more than threefold increase. This surge contradicts a decade of industry discourse predicting that blockchain technology would displace traditional finance; instead, the evidence indicates a convergence occurring at the intersection of performant blockchains, decentralised trading and lending venues, and tokenised representations of legacy asset classes.
The composition of on-chain demand provides the clearest validation of this thesis. Institutional capital flowing into blockchain-based lending venues prioritises Treasuries and multi-strategy funds first, followed by private credit and delta-neutral strategies. Spot trading volume in tokenised assets is concentrated in gold, while perpetual futures activity dominates in oil, precious metals, equity indexes (including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100), and individual technology and semiconductor stocks. This pattern demonstrates that institutional investors are utilising blockchain infrastructure for settlement and trading efficiency of familiar asset classes, not for exposure to nascent digital assets.
The concurrent 15 percent decline in total decentralised finance deposits underscores the directional shift. Rather than crypto and traditional finance operating as competing systems, capital reallocation reveals institutional preference for blockchain-enabled traditional assets. CoinShares frames this movement as originating from the traditional finance side, where institutions recognise blockchain's operational benefits for settlement, custody, and accessibility while maintaining exposure to core holdings.
CoinShares' institutional positioning has strengthened alongside this trend. The firm's Assets under Management have more than tripled over the past two years through investor inflows, supported by products such as the Blockchain Global Equity Index (BLOCK Index)—which captures investment upside from earnings related to blockchain technology adoption. CoinShares targets a $50 billion total addressable market for institutional digital asset investment, reflecting institutional momentum toward blockchain infrastructure as financial plumbing rather than speculative asset class.
The composition of on-chain demand provides the clearest validation of this thesis. Institutional capital flowing into blockchain-based lending venues prioritises Treasuries and multi-strategy funds first, followed by private credit and delta-neutral strategies. Spot trading volume in tokenised assets is concentrated in gold, while perpetual futures activity dominates in oil, precious metals, equity indexes (including the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100), and individual technology and semiconductor stocks. This pattern demonstrates that institutional investors are utilising blockchain infrastructure for settlement and trading efficiency of familiar asset classes, not for exposure to nascent digital assets.
The concurrent 15 percent decline in total decentralised finance deposits underscores the directional shift. Rather than crypto and traditional finance operating as competing systems, capital reallocation reveals institutional preference for blockchain-enabled traditional assets. CoinShares frames this movement as originating from the traditional finance side, where institutions recognise blockchain's operational benefits for settlement, custody, and accessibility while maintaining exposure to core holdings.
CoinShares' institutional positioning has strengthened alongside this trend. The firm's Assets under Management have more than tripled over the past two years through investor inflows, supported by products such as the Blockchain Global Equity Index (BLOCK Index)—which captures investment upside from earnings related to blockchain technology adoption. CoinShares targets a $50 billion total addressable market for institutional digital asset investment, reflecting institutional momentum toward blockchain infrastructure as financial plumbing rather than speculative asset class.
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