The Real-World Asset (RWA) sector is heating up again, with tokens linked to asset tokenization jumping 11% in the past week. The market cap is now close to $76 billion, while the value of tokenized assets on-chain has hit a record $29 billion, nearly double since the start of 2025.
What once looked like a niche experiment is now becoming one of the strongest pillars of crypto adoption, fueled by growing institutional interest.
Why Institutions Are Driving RWA Growth
This rally isn’t just hype, it’s powered by real institutional money. More than half of tokenized assets are tied to private credit, while about a quarter are linked to U.S. Treasurys. The rest comes from commodities, equities, and alternative funds.
By moving these assets on-chain, institutions gain faster settlement, transparency, and new liquidity pools. Investors, in turn, get access to financial products once reserved for high-net-worth individuals or funds.
As BlackRock CEO Larry Fink put it: “Tokenization could democratize finance.”
Ethereum Leads the Tokenization Wave
Ethereum remains at the core of RWA adoption. Over 75% of tokenized value sits on Ethereum and its layer-2s, cementing its dominance in tokenization infrastructure.
When stablecoins are included, the total value of tokenized assets jumps to $307 billion — proving that on-chain finance is no longer experimental but mainstream.
Top Coins Riding the RWA Rally
Several tokens are surging alongside the RWA boom:
- Chainlink (LINK): $24.66, up ~8.8% in 7 days, and ~3.6% in the last 24 hours.
- Avalanche (AVAX): $28.84, up 18% this week.
- Ondo Finance (ONDO): $1.08, also up 18%, riding demand for private credit exposure.
- Stellar (XLM) & Hedera (HBAR): Part of the RWA infrastructure, though gains are smaller.
These projects are positioning themselves as critical players in the tokenization economy.
BlackRock’s Big Push Into RWA
BlackRock is leading the charge. Last year, it launched a $2.2 billion tokenized money market fund (BUIDL) on Ethereum. Now, it’s exploring the possibility of putting ETFs on-chain.
If ETFs are tokenized, the RWA sector could expand even faster than the stablecoin boom, opening the door for trillions of dollars from traditional finance to enter crypto.
RWA at the Center of Adoption
With governments, including the U.S., backing tokenization as a way to modernize markets, RWAs are no longer a side story. They’re becoming the perfect intersection of Wall Street adoption and DeFi innovation.As BlackRock’s Fink highlighted, “The future of markets is tokenized.” And with $29 billion already on-chain, the RWA trend is shaping up to be the next big wave in crypto adoption.
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FAQs
Real-World Assets (RWA) are traditional financial products like U.S. Treasurys, private credit, real estate, commodities, or equities that are tokenized and brought on-chain, allowing them to be traded, lent, or used in DeFi.
Ethereum dominates, holding over 75% of tokenized assets, followed by its layer-2 solutions, Avalanche, Stellar, and Hedera.
The RWA sector has a market cap near $76 billion, with $29 billion tokenized on-chain. Including stablecoins, total tokenized value jumps to $307 billion.
Yes, firms like BlackRock are exploring tokenized ETFs, which could bring trillions of dollars from traditional finance into crypto.
