While tokenized government bonds still make up the majority of RWA, rapidly growing tokenized equities signal a broader shift to on-chain capital markets in 2026.
summary
- Tokenized U.S. Treasuries still represent the largest portion of the RWA market by market capitalization.
- Tokenized public equity is currently the fastest growing RWA segment as DeFi rails mature.
- 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the transition from yield-only RWA to a full on-chain market stack.
While tokenized U.S. government bonds continue to dominate the real-world asset market by market capitalization, new data shows that tokenized equities have emerged as the fastest-growing segment within the sector.
You may also like: Russian cryptocurrency trading exceeds $640 million per day, Ministry of Finance reveals
The data suggests that on-chain financial products could expand more broadly beyond yield-focused products in 2026, the report said.
According to the data, tokenized U.S. Treasuries maintain the largest market capitalization and hold a clear lead over other asset classes. Growth momentum is increasingly evident in tokenized public equities, expanding at a relatively faster pace than other categories.
According to the report, the tokenized asset market is comprised of a variety of structures including US Treasury debt, commodities, private credit, institutional alternative funds, corporate bonds, non-US government debt, and public equities.
Government bonds remain a core asset, with stable yields and regulatory clarity making them attractive to institutional investors, market analysts said. The next largest category is goods and private credit, reflecting demand for income generation and inflation hedging instruments.
Data shows that although tokenized equities are small in absolute terms, adoption is accelerating, especially as decentralized financial infrastructure improves. Industry insiders say the new demand has been driven by the ability of tokenized stocks to be used as collateral, integrated into lending markets and accessed globally without the constraints of traditional securities trading.
Unlike U.S. Treasuries, which primarily function as yield-generating instruments, tokenized equities introduce growth exposure to DeFi-native portfolios, the report notes. The combination of capital efficiency and configurability positions equities as a high-growth segment of real-world assets.
This data suggests that the real-world asset story is evolving from initial growth around stable return-producing assets like government bonds to one of utility, composability, and integration with on-chain financial systems. Our analysis suggests that if this trend continues, 2026 could be a transition period for tokenization as it moves from experimental implementation to a more comprehensive layer of financial infrastructure across debt, credit, commodities, and equity.
read more: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer targets AI chatbots in new child safety drive
