Ethereum is still winning the tokenization race

Tokenized real-world assets (RWA) have been resilient against widespread market downturns. The total value of on-chain decentralized RWA has nearly quadrupled in the past year.

Despite increasing competition from Solana (SOL), Ethereum (ETH) continues to dominate the sector, accounting for more than half of the market share.

RWA growth accelerates despite market downturn

According to data from RWA.xyz, the value of decentralized RWA reached an all-time high of $26.7 billion in March. As of this writing, that number is down slightly to $26.6 billion, an increase of 309% from $6.5 billion a year ago.

Distributed RWA value. Source: RWA.xyz

This rapid expansion is particularly noteworthy given the broader market environment. The cryptocurrency market has recently been characterized by extreme fear.

However, the continued rise in tokenized RWA suggests that investors are increasingly paying attention to these assets.

The number of holders also increased rapidly in early 2026 for Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, etc. In fact, a previous report by BeInCrypto highlighted that Solana has surpassed Ethereum for the first time in terms of RWA holders.

According to the latest data, Solana hosts approximately 157,682 RWA holders, slightly more than Ethereum. Despite this shift in user activity, Ethereum continues to dominate the broader RWA ecosystem.

The network currently accounts for over 57% of the decentralized RWA market share and supports approximately 675 tokenization projects, strengthening its position as the leading infrastructure for institutional-level tokenization.

Institutional interest in Ethereum has been reinforced by high-profile initiatives. For example, JPMorgan launched its first tokenized money market fund on Ethereum in December.

Why Wall Street Still Chooses Ethereum for Tokenization

But why do institutions prefer Ethereum? Insights from BeInCrypto’s expert council, which includes representatives from Standard Chartered and Bitwise, suggest this is not an ideological issue, but one of institutional risk management, comfort, and defensibility.

Jeff Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, argued that much of the TradFi blockchain activity is likely to take place on Ethereum in the coming years.

“With TradFi’s involvement, I think Ethereum will probably win for some time to come. I think pretty much everything will be done on Ethereum for the next few years as banks and others build things in the blockchain space,” said Jeff Kendrick of Standard Chartered.

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He said the adoption of alternative networks may only come later, especially for chains like Solana that offer low costs and fast transactions.

“So there’s a very simple maxim in TradFi, which is if you do something smart, it won’t work, but if you do something not very smart, you’ll probably lose your job, but you’ll keep your job,” Jeff Kendrick told BeInCrypto. “But ultimately, I think over the next few years, Ethereum will win the flow from Tradfi and outperform in token price.”

While Ethereum’s dominance over public chains has been established, this raises broader questions about whether private and permissioned blockchains may eventually challenge Ethereum’s initial dominance.

Private or permissioned blockchains are attractive to institutions because they offer greater control, privacy, regulatory compliance, faster transactions, and more predictable costs.

However, they trade off the decentralization and openness that define permissionless public blockchains. According to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, institutions may consider these more controlled blockchain environments.

He noted that many companies are “taking it seriously.” Hogan suggested that it remains possible that some of these permitted networks will eventually gain significant traction as institutional adoption progresses.

Going forward, the test will be whether Ethereum can maintain its 57% share as competition intensifies. For now, Wall Street’s preference remains clear.

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