RWA deposits triple to $7.4 billion, DeFi market is in a downturn: CoinShares

The size of RWA deposits tripled year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026

According to a report released by CoinShares on August 6, in the second quarter of 2026, the total amount of real world asset (RWA) deposits on lending platforms and decentralized exchanges reached US$7.4 billion, more than tripling from US$2.3 billion in the same period last year.

Core Summary

RWA deposits tripled year-on-year to US$7.4 billion, while total DeFi deposits fell 15%. The spot trading volume of tokenized assets increased by 220%, while the overall trading volume of decentralized exchanges decreased by approximately 70% year-on-year during the same period. Nearly 70% of RWA deposits are concentrated on the Ethereum lending platform, consolidating its existing liquidity advantages. TradeXYZ's RWA perpetual contract trading volume has increased approximately 20 times since its launch, and open interest contracts continue to grow steadily. CoinShares calculates RWA yields ranging from 3.2% to 5.5%, reflecting different collateral and strategic risks.

Overall trend

During the same period, total DeFi deposits fell by about 15%, as investors withdrew funds and cryptocurrency prices weakened. These data mark a shift from token issuance to active financial applications. CoinShares said the value of chain-listed tokenized funds, stocks and commodities has exceeded $40 billion. The $7.4 billion deposit data covers assets deployed in lending and trading platforms, rather than the entire issue value of the sector.

RWA deposit growth contrasts with the overall contraction of DeFi

Tokenized treasury bonds and multi-strategy funds contributed most of the growth. The report points out that JTRSY, BlackRock's BUIDL and Sky's sUSDS are the main contributors. This is followed by private credit products including JAAA, syrupUSDT, syrupUSDC and PRIME, while Ethena's sUSDe represents a delta-neutral strategy. These products can continue to generate income while serving as collateral, reducing the cost of locking in capital in the lending market. Deposits are still concentrated on mature platforms such as Aave, Morpho and Kamino. Nearly 70% of deposits are in the Ethereum-based lending market, with Plasma ranking second and Solana's share driven mainly by Kamino.

Ethereum's leading position reflects the liquidity available to its borrowers and lenders. Emerging networks must attract assets, borrowers and market makers simultaneously. Mature markets can grow on the basis of existing activities, which makes migration more difficult, even if the chain of competition provides lower costs.

Trading data shows assets gain secondary market

RWA spot trading volume increased by approximately 220% year-on-year, while overall decentralized exchange trading volume fell by approximately 70%. Tokenized gold products XAUt and PAXG contribute most trading activity, and traders respond to fluctuations in gold prices. Ethena's sUSDe also contributed after mobility migrated from Uniswap v3 to v4. This increase suggests that tokenized products are developing a secondary market where investors can transfer ownership without having to directly redeem it from the issuer. Activity in the area of perpetual contracts is also growing. TradeXYZ, an RWA-focused platform built on Hyperliquid, has seen its transaction volume increase approximately 20 times since its launch. Trading was mainly concentrated in commodities, the S & P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and technology stocks, with open interest contracts continuing to climb. These contracts provide leveraged price exposure rather than ownership of underlying securities or commodities, and their growth measures the need for continued market access, but should not be combined with tokenized fund deposits when calculating asset management size.

Treasury products convert earnings into collateral

The largest collateral categories in the report include products linked to U.S. government debt and income-based dollars. BlackRock's BUIDL has also entered the institutional trading process. Securitize said in April that eligible OKX customers could use BUIDL as collateral, while Standard Chartered held the asset outside the exchange. This arrangement confirms the report's conclusion that issuance is becoming a financial infrastructure. Sky's sUSDS supply was shown to be 4.61 billion, with a savings rate of 3.52%. Ethena also said that sUSDe's return depends on the income of the underlying assets and is distributed through an agreement mechanism. CoinShares estimates yields on these products to be around 3.2% to 5.5%. Treasury fund yields are close to the lower limit, while private credit, lending vault and funding rate strategies provide higher returns with different collateral, liquidity and counterparty risks. The report also found differences between investor groups. The average balance of BUIDL wallets reaches tens of millions of dollars, while the average balance of tokenized stocks is smaller, but the holder is growing faster.

Revenue data shows RWA activity is still in its early stages

RWA lending and transactions have expanded, but application revenue across the DeFi segment declined between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026. The report stated that the scale of RWA activities is still too small to reverse the decline in cryptocurrency native lending and transaction revenue. Hyperliquid generates higher application revenue than other platforms studied because it charges fees at both the exchange and settlement levels. However, the report does not claim that the RWA market contributes the majority of revenue, and its broader derivatives business remains the main driver. CoinShares CEO Jean Marie Mognetti said growth during the DeFi downturn showed demand was driven by "financial utility rather than market cycles." This view is CoinShares 'interpretation of differentiation and does not prove that RWA demand is not related to changes in cryptocurrency prices, interest rates or liquidity. The scope of the study is also limited, and it covers transferable or distributed tokenized funds, stocks and commodities, excluding assets for which tokens cannot be widely transferred to the network of lending and trading platforms studied. Over the next 18 months, the clearest measures will be collateral deposits, spot trading volume, open interest, holder growth and applied retained income. CoinShares said that if RWA activity continues to grow faster than the native cryptocurrency market, it is "likely" to become a larger source of revenue. This remains a forward-looking view rather than a confirmed result.