Capital on public blockchains is moving more decisively toward tokenized real-world assets, even as wider decentralized finance activity weakens. According to a report cited by The Block, deposits on RWA-focused lending platforms and decentralized exchanges climbed to $7.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier.
That growth came against a softer backdrop for DeFi overall. Total DeFi deposits fell by about 15% over the same period, while trading patterns also split sharply between RWA-linked activity and the rest of the market.
RWA growth diverges from the wider market
The reported increase means deposits tied to tokenized real-world assets more than tripled year over year. At the same time, the broader DeFi sector moved in the opposite direction, indicating that on-chain capital is not expanding evenly across crypto markets.
A similar divide appeared in spot trading. Overall decentralized exchange spot volume dropped by roughly 70%, but RWA trading volume rose about 220%, suggesting that investors continued to allocate to selected tokenized products even as general on-chain trading slowed.
Traditional assets drive the inflows
The growth has been led primarily by tokenized versions of traditional financial instruments rather than crypto-native collateral. By collateral type, tokenized U.S. Treasuries and multi-strategy funds accounted for a large share of deposits, including products such as BlackRock’s BUIDL, JTRSY and sUSDS.
Private credit products and delta-neutral strategies followed behind those categories. In spot markets, gold-backed tokens including XAUT and PAXG were identified as leaders in the increase in RWA trading activity.
Derivatives also point to rising RWA interest
The divergence extended beyond lending and spot markets. Overall perpetual futures trading has slowed since October 2025, according to the report, but volume and open interest in RWA-linked perpetual products increased.
Those contracts include exposure linked to crude oil, precious metals, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and semiconductor stocks. The data indicates that demand for tokenized access to familiar off-chain assets has continued to build even while broader crypto derivatives activity cooled.
Ethereum remains dominant as hybrid finance expands
Ethereum held the leading position in the market, accounting for about 70% of total RWA deposits. The report also said Plasma and Solana expanded their share, showing that activity is spreading across multiple chains even as Ethereum remains the primary base layer for these products.
Jean-Marie Mognetti, chief executive of CoinShares, described the shift as a move of traditional assets onto blockchain rails rather than a break from traditional finance. In his view, investors are not leaving Treasuries, gold, equity indexes or semiconductor exposure behind; they are using infrastructure that can settle in seconds and run around the clock.
The next confirmed point is the current composition of flows: tokenized Treasuries, multi-strategy funds and gold-backed tokens are leading the move, while Ethereum still hosts most deposits. Whether that divergence persists will depend on future DeFi activity and continued demand for tokenized versions of conventional assets.
Source: en.bloomingbit.io