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BNB chain real world assets recorded explosive growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, rising 555% year over year as institutional partnerships and stablecoin adoption accelerated, according to a new report from blockchain research firm Messari.
The expansion positioned BNB Chain as the second-largest blockchain by real-world asset value by quarter-end, trailing only Ethereum and surpassing Solana, even as the network’s native token faced market headwinds.
Messari’s findings highlight a clear shift in strategy for BNB Chain, where BNB chain real world assets became a central growth engine at a time when broader crypto markets were volatile.
The increase occurred during a quarter marked by declining BNB prices and a wider industry-wide liquidation event in October, underscoring the role of tokenized traditional assets as a stabilizing force for the network.
By the end of the fourth quarter, BNB chain real world assets had climbed sharply from third-quarter levels and were more than five times higher than a year earlier, Messari reported.
The research firm said the growth was concentrated in a handful of institutional products, with one tokenized offering accounting for the majority of total value and another representing roughly a quarter.
“The rapid increase in real-world asset value reflects strong institutional participation rather than retail speculation,” — Messari, in its Q4 2024 BNB Chain report.
Despite the surge in tokenized asset value, BNB’s native token experienced a quarter-over-quarter decline in market capitalization following an industry-wide liquidation event on Oct. 11. BNB had reached a record high in mid-October before sliding through year-end.
Even so, the token remained the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization at quarter-end, behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Network fundamentals strengthened alongside the rise in BNB chain real world assets.
Average daily transactions increased substantially from third-quarter levels, while daily active addresses also trended higher.
Messari noted that early-October volatility triggered a temporary spike in usage, but activity remained consistently above third-quarter averages even after excluding that surge.
Institutional collaboration was the primary catalyst behind the expansion of BNB chain real world assets.
In October, BNB Chain partnered with CMB International to launch a tokenized money market fund, marking one of the network’s most significant steps into regulated financial products.
Ondo Global Markets later expanded the ecosystem by adding more than 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds to BNB Chain, broadening real-world asset exposure beyond money market funds into equities.
In November, a large institutional fund issued through Securitize also extended its deployment to BNB Chain, according to Messari.
“BNB Chain’s real-world asset growth has been led by partnerships with established financial players rather than experimental products,” — Messari, research note on tokenized assets.
While asset value rose quickly, Messari emphasized that concentration risk remains.
Smaller allocations included products such as Matrixdock Gold and VanEck’s Treasury Fund, while tokenized shares of major public companies accounted for only a modest share of total value.
Even so, analysts see the expanding product mix as a sign that BNB chain real world assets are moving beyond a single-product narrative.
As BNB chain real world assets expanded, decentralized finance activity on the network cooled.
Total value locked declined from third-quarter levels, although it remained above year-earlier figures. BNB Chain still ranked as the third-largest blockchain by total value locked at quarter-end, according to Messari.
PancakeSwap continued to dominate the network’s DeFi landscape, controlling roughly one-third of total value locked.
Its TVL declined modestly during the quarter, suggesting relative user retention compared with smaller protocols that saw sharper liquidity withdrawals as traders reduced risk exposure.
Stablecoins, however, gained traction. Total stablecoin supply on BNB Chain increased during the quarter, with one leading stablecoin maintaining its top position after posting gains.
Another major stablecoin recorded substantial growth, supported by payment use cases and gas-fee discounts.
New payment partnerships further reinforced the ecosystem. A payments network enabled multiple stablecoins for cross-border settlements on BNB Chain and later allowed cloud-service customers to pay for services using BNB.
A new stablecoin launched in December also allowed users to mint tokens using major stablecoins as collateral, Messari reported.
Technical upgrades throughout 2024 supported the scaling ambitions behind BNB chain real world assets.
The network rolled out Pascal, Lorentz, Maxwell, and the ongoing Fermi hardfork, reducing block times, improving transaction finality, and more than doubling network capacity. Gas fees fell sharply as a result.
Looking ahead, Messari said BNB Chain’s 2025 roadmap targets throughput of around 20,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality.
Plans include integrating off-chain computing with on-chain verification to handle additional transaction volume without degrading performance, as well as developing a trading-focused chain designed for near-instant confirmation.
Taken together, the data suggests BNB chain real world assets are becoming a cornerstone of the network’s long-term positioning.
While token price volatility and softer DeFi metrics present challenges, institutional adoption of tokenized financial products has given BNB Chain a distinct growth narrative which is one increasingly anchored in real-world utility rather than speculative activity alone.
