Rich by Coin

The global on-chain real-world asset (RWA) market has grown more than threefold in a single year. The largest segment is U.S. Treasuries at about $8.6 billion, with gold-based tokenized assets such as XAUT and PAXG driving demand in the commodities space. This expansion follows BlackRock’s earlier launch of the tokenized money market fund Build (BUIDL) and related demand for Treasury-based tokenization products such as USCY, BENJ, and WTGXX. By December 2025, the global RWA market size reached about $18.8 billion, up from roughly $5.5 billion in January 2025.

The asset mix shows U.S. Treasuries accounting for the largest share at about $8.6 billion, followed by commodities at about $3.5 billion. The growth was supported by inflows into gold tokenized assets like XAUT and PAXG. Institutional alternative investment funds totaled $2.6 billion, private credit $2.2 billion, non-U.S. bonds about $770 million, listed equities about $740 million, and private equities about $400 million.

iM Securities researchers cited efficiency gains and greater accessibility enabled by blockchain technology as drivers of RWA market growth. They noted that individual investors can access asset classes that were previously harder to reach, while asset holders can use on-chain assets as collateral or unlock liquidity more flexibly, improving capital efficiency.

Stable-income assets moving on-chain, such as U.S. Treasuries and money market funds, are accelerating market expansion as investors seek predictable cash flows over volatile digital assets. Institutional participation, including BlackRock and other global asset managers, has bolstered market confidence, and regulators’ reforms are accelerating RWAs’ mainstream adoption.

Standard Chartered expects the non-stablecoin-based RWA market to reach $2 trillion by 2028, with tokenized MMFs and tokenized U.S. equities each attracting about $750 billion and non-liquid assets such as private credit, commodities, corporate bonds, and real estate drawing in about $2.5 trillion. However, for RWAs to sustain growth, stablecoin liquidity and DeFi-based deposit structures must be in place.