Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are moving beyond simple issuance and into programmable onchain utility, according to two new research reports from Binance Research and DWF Labs. The data reveals a sharp expansion in tokenized equities, bonds, and money-market funds, alongside growing usage in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Binance Research reported that the total onchain RWA market value has risen 85.2% year-to-date to $34.18 billion. Tokenized equities alone grew 390.4% to reach $4.43 billion, while bonds and money-market funds hit $18.29 billion and accounted for 54.7% of the growth in onchain RWA assets under management. Despite this, Binance estimates that only about 0.01% of the potentially addressable $300 trillion market has been tokenized, leaving vast room for expansion.
The report emphasizes capital activation rather than raw issuance. Binance calculates the overall activation rate at roughly 12%, meaning only $12 of every $100 in tokenized value is actively used in onchain markets. Equity activation climbed from 1.95% to 7.54% this year, while private credit reached 49.67%. This suggests most tokenized capital remains idle, but there is substantial opportunity to deploy existing assets into lending, liquidity, and collateral applications without additional issuance.
DWF Labs separately tracked tokenized equities and found the market value reached $3.8 billion, roughly six times its early-January level of $654 million. Weekly decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume hit $2.54 billion in early October, up 55-fold from $45.8 million in January, though still below the late-August peak of $7.26 billion. Weekly token transfers surged 41.8 times to $17.5 billion. DWF Labs highlighted that transfer turnover now stands at 4.6 times market value, up from 0.64 times, and DEX trading relative to market value rose from 0.07 to 0.67.
In issuer rankings, Ondo Finance remained the largest with $1 billion in tokenized equities, though its market share fell from 56% to 26%. xStocks followed with $954 million (25%), and Binance’s bStocks launched in June reached $905 million (24%) within two weeks of launch. Robinhood’s tracked issuance grew from $20 million to $170 million after its July launch. On the blockchain side, BNB Chain now hosts 32% of tokenized equity value, up from 9% at the start of the year, while Ethereum’s share dropped from 50% to 22%. Avalanche reached 9%. For trading, Solana’s share of spot DEX volume fell from 99.8% in January to 31% by October, with Robinhood Chain at 26%, BNB Chain at 25%, and Base at 18%.
DeFi deployment of tokenized equities reached $313 million by Oct. 15, up from $15.5 million on Jan. 1. Key destinations included lending markets Kamino, Jupiter Lend, and Frankencoin ($51.3 million combined), spot exchange pools on Uniswap V4, Raydium, and Aerodrome ($77.9 million), and credit protocol Saturn ($50.9 million). The ten largest protocols accounted for 89% of deployed value.
Both reports stress that tokenization must deliver real utility. As DWF Labs put it: “Tokenization for tokenization’s sake won’t work in the long run.” The International Monetary Fund also examined tokenized equity trading, finding realized volatility roughly 1.5 times that of conventional equities, with more than half of trading occurring outside regular U.S. market hours and 80% of trades involving less than one share.
