HTX research explores RWA and DeFi: Two independent tracks merge into a unified financial closed loo

From asset tokenization to cash flow tokenization: RWA and DeFi enter the second half of programmable finance

Apia, Samoa, July 27, 2026-HTX Research, a research arm of cryptocurrency exchange HTX, released the latest report titled "From Asset tokenization to Cash Flow tokenization: RWA and DeFi enter the second half of programmable finance." The report provides an in-depth analysis of how two seemingly independent areas, RWA (real-world asset) tokenization and DeFi (decentralized finance) cash flow valuation, together point to an industry transformation: the cryptocurrency market is shifting from "asset existence" to "asset utility", and from "protocol use" to "protocol profitability."

The proof of concept has been completed, and financialization has not yet been achieved.

As of April 2026, the market size of tokenized assets other than stablecoins has grown from less than US$3 billion in mid-2024 to more than US$30 billion, and has since stabilized at approximately US$34 billion. This data confirms that traditional financial assets can be effectively linked, and institutions are beginning to view blockchain as a new infrastructure for issuance, settlement and asset management.

However,$34 billion is still a small fraction of the billions of dollars in global bond, equity, gold and credit markets. More accurately, RWA is currently positioned as "proven" rather than "mainstream": online issuance, holding and settlement have been verified, but large-scale combinability, credit creation and secondary market liquidity have not yet been achieved.

Therefore, the indicators used to judge the market need to change. The size of tokenized assets, the number of issues and the number of holders are giving way to utilization, turnover, mortgage, borrowing needs, actual returns, default handling, secondary market depth and negotiated revenue.

The paradox of chain utilization

The most eye-catching data point in the report is a phenomenon of "scale and activity inversion." The largest asset classes tend to have the lowest utilization along the chain. Public data shows that tokenized bonds are one of the largest categories, but only about 5% of their supply is deployed in DeFi; while much smaller reinsurance tokens are deployed in the DeFi protocol. A much higher proportion.

This reveals a distinction that is easily overlooked: "tokenized" and "used for on-chain finance" are two completely different concepts. The former emphasizes the expression of asset rights, while the latter emphasizes combinability, mortgage availability and transferability. Many treasury bonds and gold products are still essentially on-chain receipts-providing a more efficient interface for registration and transfers, but lack open transferability, permission-free collateral or automated clearing capabilities.

Low utilization is constrained by four factors: compliance transfer restrictions, which limit open combinability; discontinuous redemption and equity cycles, which do not match agreements that operate 24/7; immature pricing and risk models, the lack of continuous secondary market assets that rely on equity, broker quotes or model-based valuations; and legal recourse remains off-chain because smart contracts cannot complete foreclosure or bankruptcy liquidation.

From total lockup logic to profit logic

On the DeFi side, the valuation framework is also evolving as the agreement accumulates real users, transactions, and fees. Total locked volume, trading volume and FDV/TVL (ratio of fully diluted valuation to total locked volume) mainly reflect size rather than profitability or value capture capabilities.

report proposes a more operational test: whether the chain of conduction from protocol activity to token value is complete. There are at least six links in the chain-whether revenue reflects real demand rather than short-term incentives; whether the agreement retains revenue, because what matters to valuation is net income rather than total expenses; whether revenue covers risk costs such as bad debts, liquidation failures and oracle risk; whether the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) has capital allocation capabilities; whether the token has a clear value capture mechanism; and whether regulators recognize this chain of conduction.

The Aave Agreement embodies this shift, with real borrowing needs, real interest income, and an observable fee structure-DeFiLlama breaks down the fee sources of Aave V3 into borrowing interest, flash loan fees, clearing fees, Paraswap conversion fees, and Chainlink SVR (verifiable random function). However, governance tokens are not stocks, and agreement income does not necessarily belong to the token holder.

Three-layer structure, complexity superimposed

Taken together, on-chain finance is forming a three-tiered structure: compliant stablecoin and on-chain cash management, which handles payments and settlements; tokenized treasury bonds, money market funds, private credit, gold and securitized assets, which provides income and collateral; and agreements such as Aave, Maple, Sky, Pendle, Uniswap and Hyperliquid, which handle lending, transactions, interest rates, risk and leverage.

Higher efficiency also adds off-chain financial risk, smart contract risk, liquidity risk, and regulatory risk into a single system. In a 24/7, leveraged, combinable, automated clearing environment, risks are transmitted faster than traditional finance. Asset authenticity and reserve transparency, liquidity mismatch, compliance combinability, DAO governance and value transmission, and oracle pricing constitute five areas that require continuous monitoring.

The focus of competition in the second half

RWA's first half is release and second half is use. DeFi's first half was about functions, and the second half was about profitability. There are five scenarios that can create true financial depth: tokenized treasury bonds enter the collateral and repo markets; private equity credit is integrated with institutional lending agreements to form an on-chain fixed income market; tokenized gold and commodities become derivatives and margin assets; compliant stocks and fund shares enter the 24/7 trading and financing system; and the DeFi protocol enters the era of cash flow valuation through a clear value capture mechanism. They collectively point to the same shift-RWA's competition shifts from tokenization speed to depth of use on the chain, and DeFi's competition shifts from total lockup size to cash flow quality.

For market participants, the tools for observing this process need to be updated accordingly. In addition to the ranking of asset size and total locked positions, utilization, mortgage depth, revenue structure and risk parameters are becoming more explanatory indicators. HTX Research will continue to track the evolution of tokenized assets, stablecoins and on-chain financial infrastructure to provide data-driven analysis to the market.