Daily Crypto Briefs 
LONDON, August 6, 2026
Tokenized real-world asset deposits across decentralized lending platforms and exchanges more than tripled to $7.4 billion in the year through the second quarter, even as total DeFi deposits fell about 15%, according to a new CoinShares and Token Terminal report.
The increase from $2.3 billion in Q2 2025 is a rare hard number for a market often measured by issuance rather than use. It points to investors putting tokenized funds, Treasuries and other conventional assets up as onchain collateral while broader crypto-native activity cooled.
The report put the onchain market capitalization of tokenized funds, stocks and commodities above $40 billion. That is not the same measure as the $7.4 billion deposit figure: the latter tracks assets placed into lending platforms and decentralized exchanges, where holders can borrow against them or trade them.
The market backdrop was uneven. Ethereum traded near $1,905 on August 6 after ranging from roughly $1,742 to $1,952 during the prior month, according to CoinGecko market data. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index read 25, or Extreme Fear, while the report measured a contraction in total DeFi deposits and a much larger retreat in crypto-native spot trading.
Ethereum
ETHCoinShares Chief Executive Jean-Marie Mognetti said the data showed investors were moving conventional assets onto infrastructure that settles continuously, calling it “convergence, not disruption.” The report’s underlying Token Terminal dashboard covers Q2 2025 through Q2 2026 and limits its scope to transferable, distributed tokenized assets.
That scope matters. The authors excluded networks that primarily hold tokenized assets not broadly transferable across the DeFi venues studied, and the numbers do not show that every tokenized product is available to every investor or jurisdiction.
Tokenized RWA Collateral Reaches $7.4B
Tokenized Treasury and multi-strategy funds supplied most of the collateral growth, the report said. It named JTRSY, BlackRock’s BUIDL and sUSDS among the leading assets, followed by private-credit products including JAAA, syrupUSDT, syrupUSDC and PRIME, plus delta-neutral strategies such as sUSDe.
The pattern is a shift from merely issuing an asset on a blockchain to using it in a financial transaction. A tokenized fund that sits in a wallet may demonstrate issuance; one deposited into a lending market can support borrowing or liquidity, although the borrower and lender still face the platform’s smart-contract, liquidity and asset-specific risks.
That use case builds on earlier market plumbing. In February, BlackRock’s BUIDL became tradable through UniswapX, expanding a controlled route between a Treasury-backed tokenized fund and onchain liquidity. The new report does not attribute the full $7.4 billion increase to any one fund or venue.
It also cautions against reading RWA growth as a broad revenue rescue for DeFi. Application revenue across lending and trading venues fell year over year because RWA activity remains small compared with crypto-native markets, the authors wrote. The data shows rising use in a subset of markets, not a replacement for the rest of DeFi’s activity.
Ethereum Holds Nearly 70% of RWA Deposits
Ethereum hosted nearly 70% of the reported RWA deposits, according to CoinShares and Token Terminal. The report described Plasma as the second-largest ecosystem, supported by Aave’s expansion, while Solana’s growth was tied largely to Kamino, a native lending platform.
The concentration is consistent with a familiar collateral-market dynamic: borrowers gravitate to pools with deep liquidity, while lenders favor venues where borrowing demand is already established. That can make it harder for newer chains to win both users and market makers at the same time.
Solana is nonetheless part of the current picture. Daily Crypto Briefs recently reported that Coinbase Asset Management’s CUSHY fund showed about $25.1 million in tokenized private credit on Solana. The CoinShares report does not treat that individual fund as a proxy for the entire chain, but it illustrates the types of yield-bearing products seeking onchain distribution.
For tokenized equities, use still has legal and product limits beyond a blockchain’s liquidity. Kraken’s new xStocks proxy-voting framework gives eligible holders a way to submit preferences through Broadridge, while its disclosures distinguish the tokens from direct ownership of the underlying shares. The report’s figures should therefore be read as venue-use data, not as a finding that all tokenized assets confer identical rights.
RWA Trading Rises as DeFi Activity Retreats
On spot decentralized exchanges, aggregate crypto-native trading volume fell about 70% year over year, while tokenized RWA spot volume increased roughly 220%, the report found. Tokenized gold and funds generated much of the activity, with XAUT and PAXG among the cited products.
RWA perpetual-futures activity also rose while broader onchain perp volumes trended lower from October 2025, the authors said. Oil, precious metals, the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and semiconductor stocks accounted for much of that activity, reflecting markets where investors may value access outside conventional trading hours.
The report did not disclose a single overall dollar volume for tokenized RWA spot trading in the release, and it did not claim that growth was evenly distributed. It said the gains were concentrated in a limited number of assets and venues, a restraint that will matter as issuers, exchanges and regulators assess whether activity is becoming durable liquidity.
The next useful checks are whether RWA deposits keep rising after the second quarter, whether the share of collateral spreads beyond Ethereum and the established lending pools, and whether the increased trading converts into revenue for the platforms handling it. For now, the report’s clearest result is the gap between where crypto-native DeFi contracted and where tokenized conventional assets kept finding onchain uses.
Fear & Greed Index
August 6, 2026Stay up to date
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Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | CoinShares and Token Terminal: The State of Hybrid Finance 2026 |
| | Token Terminal: Hybrid Finance dashboard |
| | CoinGecko: Ethereum market data |
| | Alternative.me: Crypto Fear and Greed Index |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much tokenized RWA collateral is used in DeFi?
CoinShares and Token Terminal reported $7.4 billion of tokenized real-world asset deposits across lending platforms and decentralized exchanges in Q2 2026, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier.
Which assets are driving tokenized RWA deposits?
The report identified tokenized Treasury and multi-strategy funds as the largest contributors, followed by private-credit products and delta-neutral strategies.
Which blockchain holds the most RWA deposits?
Ethereum hosted nearly 70% of the RWA deposits measured in the report. Plasma was the second-largest ecosystem and Solana also gained share.
Did tokenized asset trading grow while DeFi declined?
Yes. The report found tokenized RWA spot trading rose roughly 220% year over year while aggregate crypto-native DEX spot volume declined about 70%.