Ethereum dominated RWA markets as Solana strengthened, while tokenized assets expanded despite weakening DeFi and crypto-native trading activity.
Ethereum continues to hold a commanding position in the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market, while Solana is emerging as the only other ecosystem to build significant spot trading activity, according to a new joint report by CoinShares and Token Terminal.
Other major networks, including Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and Base, have yet to develop meaningful RWA spot trading despite being operational for years.
Established Chains Lead
The report attributed the gap to the concentration of liquidity and trading infrastructure on established networks, where asset issuers and market makers already benefit from active markets. As a result, newer blockchains are also competing to attract established DeFi applications.
There has been a sharp divergence between crypto-native trading activity and tokenized real-world assets over the past year. Between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, aggregate spot DEX volumes fell by about 70%, while RWA spot trading volumes rose roughly 220% year over year from a much smaller base. The report said the trend suggests tokenized asset adoption is continuing independently of broader crypto market conditions, despite slower growth in recent quarters.
RWA Lending Builds Steam
There is also a widening gap between overall DeFi activity and tokenized real-world assets. Between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, total DeFi deposits declined by around 15% amid investor withdrawals and lower crypto asset prices.
RWA deposits, on the other hand, across lending platforms and decentralized exchanges, more than tripled. The figures rose from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion. This trend points to growing demand driven by the financial utility of tokenized assets rather than crypto market conditions alone.
Ethereum remained the leading blockchain for RWA-backed lending as well, with nearly 70% of all real-world asset deposits allocated to lending platforms built on the network. This makes it the primary ecosystem for on-chain collateral.
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Meanwhile, Plasma ranked second, supported by Aave’s expansion beyond Ethereum, while Solana’s growth was largely driven by Kamino, a native lending platform focused on productive uses for RWA collateral.
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