Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Tokenization Starts Looking Like Financial Infrastructure
May 12, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization
Tokenization Is Becoming Market Infrastructure
On May 4 2026, CoinGecko published its 2026 RWA Report, and the numbers tell a more interesting story than usual.
- Tokenized real world assets reached $19.32B by March 31 2026, up 256.7% from the start of 2025
- Tokenized gold trading hit $90.70B in Q1 alone
- RWA perpetuals recorded $524.79B in Q1 volume (well above the $313.02B recorded during all of 2025)
But here’s the unusual part. Most major RWA project tokens didn't benefit from that growth. CoinGecko found that six of the top seven RWA project tokens posted negative returns from January 1 2025 to March 31 2026, with losses ranging from 44.7% to 98.8%.
Tokenized assets are gaining traction, but the report shows a clear split. The market is growing around the systems that make tokenized assets useful, such as access, custody, liquidity, collateral, compliance, and distribution. It's not showing the same strength in the project tokens that investors once used to bet on the RWA theme.
Stablecoins Still Lead Digital Asset Usage
Tokenized RWAs are growing quickly, but they still equal only 6.4% of the stablecoin market. Stablecoins grew from $199.77B to $301.65B during the same period.
It's a significant gap because BlackRock Targets Stablecoin Reserve Market in digital finance to help money move, settle trades, and flow collateral between platforms. Tokenized assets are building on that base, not replacing it.
See: Stablecoins Split Into Issuance And Service Layers
The report also shows a clear preference for more institution friendly products. USDC grew 76.2% to $77.44B, while smaller regulated or compliance focused stablecoins also gained ground. That says demand is heading toward products that platforms, institutions, and regulators can actually work with.
Tokenized Assets Are Expanding Beyond Treasuries
Tokenized treasuries still lead the category, growing from $4.00B to $12.99B over the report period. But their market share fell from 73.7% to 67.2% as commodities, tokenized stocks, ETFs, and derivatives gained traction.
For much of the last cycle, Real World Assets mostly meant tokenized treasury products. Now the category is widening into broader market exposure.
Tokenized stocks scaled from $2.09M in June 2025 to $486.69M by March 2026. Tokenized ETF market capitalization reached $297.50M. The numbers are still very small compared to traditional markets, but are trending.
Tokenized Gold Shows Real Trading Demand
Tokenized commodities grew from $1.43B to $5.55B, driven mainly by gold backed products including PAXG and XAUT. The trading activity is telling. Tokenized gold recorded $90.70B in spot trading volume during Q1 2026, already higher than the full 2025 total of $84.64B.
See: Circle Launches USDC Infrastructure For AI Agents
That makes sense given gold's familiarity. It has deep global demand and already plays a role in portfolios and collateral conversations. Tokenization gives it faster movement, digital custody options, and easier access across crypto native platforms.
Crypto Exchanges Are Adding Capital Markets Products
The report shows how quickly centralized platforms, such as Kraken, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Binance or Gate are now combining some mix of tokenized securities, stocks, ETFs, commodities, futures, perps, or licensed financial infrastructure alongside crypto trading.
The lines between crypto exchange, broker, derivatives venue, and tokenized asset marketplace are getting thinner. That raises the operating bar. It's also where major infrastructure opportunities start to appear.
RWA Perps Show Demand For Synthetic Exposure
RWA perps generated $524.79B in Q1 2026 trading volume alone, while daily open interest rose from $0.14B at the start of 2025 to $6.68B by March 31 2026.
The data suggests that many traders want exposure to real world asset prices without necessarily holding the underlying tokenized asset. Commodities still dominate this market, but stock and ETF perps are growing. Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 volume rose from $12.65B in Q4 2025 to $130.87B in Q1 2026.
This is trading infrastructure forming around tokenized and traditional assets at the same time.
Closing Takeaway
CoinGecko’s report shows a tokenized asset market growing quickly, but unevenly. Tokenization is becoming infrastructure. Stablecoins still do the heavy lifting. Treasuries still lead. Gold trading volume has surged. Exchanges are adding capital markets functions. RWA perps are scaling quickly. At the same time, most RWA project tokens continue falling.
See: Tokenized Infrastructure Is Changing How Markets Operate
Tokenization is starting to look less like crypto hype and more like financial infrastructure that can make tokenized assets useful, compliant, liquid, and easy to access at scale.
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