Ethereum dominates $29B tokenized-asset market as RWA tokens surge

RWA tokens surge across the market this week as investor demand and institutional participation push tokenized assets to new peaks. The total onchain value of real world assets has nearly doubled since January climbing to $29 billion amid rising activity from traditional finance firms.

Cryptocurrencies linked to the real world asset tokenization sector saw RWA tokens surge by 11% in the past seven days with the market cap jumping from $67 billion to nearly $76 billion according to CoinMarketCap.

Projects driving the RWA tokens surge includes: Chainlink, which provides blockchain oracles; Avalanche, a high speed layer 1 chain; and Ondo Finance, an institutional RWA DeFi platform that gained 9% in just one day.

RWA Onchain Value Peaks

The latest RWA tokens surge coincides with onchain tokenized assets hitting $29 billion for the first time according to RWA.xyz. This represents almost double the value seen earlier this year as banks and asset managers roll out tokenized products.

More than half of this total comes from tokenized private credit while roughly a quarter comes from tokenized U.S. Treasurys. The rest includes commodities, alternative funds, equities and bonds.

When factoring in stablecoins, the value soars to a record $307 billion, with over three quarters of these assets tokenized on Ethereum and its layer 2 networks.

Wall Street Embraces Tokenization

Commenting on the RWA tokens surge, crypto investor Ryan Sean Adams said on X that tokenization is now being actively encouraged by the U.S. government as part of its effort to modernize financial markets. He noted that Wall Street and fintech firms are increasingly incentivized to participate in this shift.

BlackRock Moves Toward ETF Tokenization

Adding momentum to the RWA tokens surge, BlackRock is reportedly exploring the tokenization of its exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This comes after the successful 2024 launch of its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum that has grown to $2.2 billion in assets under management.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has long championed tokenization emphasizing that every financial asset can be represented on blockchain a move he says will “democratize finance.”