CoinShares: RWA deposits triple to $7.4 billion as DeFi funding shrinks 15%

RWA deposits across DeFi more than tripled from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, even as total DeFi deposits fell roughly 15%, according to an Aug. 7, 2026 report from CoinShares and Token Terminal.

The findings point to a growing separation between tokenized real-world assets and the wider crypto market. While overall DeFi liquidity and trading activity weakened amid falling token prices and investor withdrawals, RWA deposits continued to gain momentum, driven by investors seeking practical, yield-generating financial products rather than speculative opportunities.

RWA deposits outpace the wider DeFi market

The latest CoinShares report underscores how RWA deposits are becoming one of the strongest-performing segments within decentralized finance.

An earlier CoinShares analysis estimated the total on-chain value of tokenized real-world assets at more than $40 billion. However, the latest research focuses on actual capital deployed across DeFi protocols rather than total market capitalization, providing a clearer picture of investor participation.

According to the report, RWA deposits increased from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. Much of this growth came from yield-bearing financial products, with tokenized Treasury funds and multi-strategy investment vehicles leading adoption.

Products such as JTRSY, BUIDL and sUSDS accounted for a significant share of the increase, while decentralized lending platforms including Aave, Morpho and Kamino provided the deepest liquidity supporting these assets.

The report suggests that investors increasingly view tokenized financial products as a reliable source of on-chain yield, even during periods when broader cryptocurrency markets experience reduced activity.

Tokenized assets separate from crypto market cycles

While RWA deposits recorded substantial growth, the rest of the DeFi ecosystem moved in the opposite direction.

CoinShares found that total DeFi deposits fell by approximately 15% over the same period as investors reduced exposure and declining crypto prices lowered the overall value locked across protocols.

Trading activity reflected a similar divergence.

According to the report, spot trading volumes for crypto-native assets on decentralized exchanges dropped by around 70% year-over-year. By contrast, spot trading involving tokenized real-world assets increased by roughly 220%, albeit from a significantly smaller base.

The contrasting performance indicates that RWA deposits are increasingly driven by underlying demand for real-world financial utility rather than speculative trading cycles traditionally associated with digital assets.

This marks a notable shift in investor behavior as tokenized government securities and institutional investment products continue gaining traction across decentralized finance.

CoinShares sees structural growth behind RWA deposits

Jean-Marie Mognetti, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares, said the divergence between traditional DeFi activity and RWA deposits reflects a deeper transformation taking place within digital finance.

“This divergence is the signal…tokenisation is structural, not cyclical,” — Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, CoinShares.

Mognetti argued that when a sector continues expanding despite weakness in its surrounding market, it typically signals that demand is being driven by genuine utility rather than short-term speculation.

He also emphasized that the tokenization industry remains in its early stages despite recent growth.

“We are still early.” — Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, CoinShares.

According to the executive, only about $2.2 billion of the global equity market valued at more than $100 trillion has been tokenized so far. He compared the industry’s current stage to the stablecoin market in 2019, suggesting there remains substantial room for expansion if adoption continues.

The report concludes that future growth in RWA deposits will largely depend on whether additional real-world asset classes migrate on-chain and whether decentralized finance continues providing efficient infrastructure for institutional-grade financial products.

For now, the data indicate that RWA deposits are following an independent growth trajectory, increasingly detached from the performance of the broader cryptocurrency market.