The total value locked in real-world assets (RWAs) on decentralized finance platforms has surpassed $10.41 billion, signaling a growing investor appetite for tokenized versions of traditional financial instruments.
The surge reflects a broader shift in investment strategies as users increasingly move toward blockchain-based representations of tangible assets such as treasury bonds, real estate, and gold.
According to data from DeFiLlama, the assets are spread across 79 platforms, with the top three protocols—BlackRock BUIDL, Maker RWA, and Ethena USDtb—accounting for 36 percent of the total.
BlackRock’s BUIDL has emerged as the leading protocol by daily growth, with a 24-hour increase of 14.84 percent and a total value locked of $1.414 billion. Over the past month, BUIDL’s TVL has surged by 136 percent. Built on the Ethereum network, the fund tokenizes money market investments and currently holds $373 million in assets.
Maker RWA, which digitizes assets including treasury bonds and real estate, follows closely with a TVL of $1.299 billion. However, the protocol has declined 25.52 percent over the past 30 days.
Ethena USDtb, a fund backed by tokenized BlackRock money-market shares, recorded the fastest one-month growth among top protocols, rising by 1,221 percent to reach $1.182 billion in TVL.
Investor Demand Shifts Toward Stability and Diversification
The appeal of tokenized RWAs is driven by investor interest in stable, yield-bearing instruments amid crypto market volatility. Funds backed by treasuries, stablecoins, and other low-risk assets are gaining traction as hedging tools.
This trend is reflected in the growing number of tokenized treasury-backed products, such as Franklin Templeton’s BENJI and Ondo Finance’s OUSG, alongside rising volumes in stablecoin-pegged funds.
Ondo Finance, which operates across eight chains, currently manages $984.17 million in TVL. It posted a modest 22.52 percent increase over the past month. Other protocols, including Usual and Hashnote USYC, have experienced declines.
Hashnote USYC saw a 29.15 percent decrease in TVL over the past month to $783.27 million, though it generated $7,434 in daily fees, contributing to its 30-day fee total of $283,925.
Industry forecasts project continued momentum. VanEck, a global investment firm, expects tokenized RWAs to exceed $50 billion in market capitalization by the end of 2025. The current $10.41 billion in TVL, up 1.79 percent in the past 24 hours, indicates accelerating the adoption of digital asset strategies grounded in traditional finance models.
Over the past 30 days, total fees across all RWA protocols reached $542,670, while 24-hour fees totaled $12,650. Despite a 24-hour volume decline of $72,773, weekly volume held steady at $30,360.
