CoinGecko’s latest RWA Report 2026 indicates that the tokenization of real-world assets has entered a new phase of explosive expansion. Between the start of 2025 and the end of March 2026, the total market capitalization of tokenized RWAs more than tripled, climbing 256.7 percent from $5.42 billion to $19.3 billion. According to insights from CoinGecko, this surge outpaced stablecoins, lifting RWAs from just 2.7 percent to 6.4 percent of the stablecoin market size and signaling that tokenized traditional assets are carving out a larger role in on-chain finance.
Tokenized U.S. Treasuries remain the dominant category, holding a 67.2 percent share of the overall RWA market even after a modest decline from 73.7 percent at the beginning of the year.
The segment added roughly $9 billion in value, crossing the $10 billion milestone in mid-February 2026.
While Treasuries drove more than half the sector’s absolute growth, their relative weight eased as other asset classes accelerated even faster.
Commodities posted the strongest percentage gain, expanding 289 percent to reach $5.55 billion and claiming 28.7 percent of the total RWA pie.
Gold-backed tokens led the charge: XAUT and PAXG together accounted for nearly 90 percent of the category’s increase, with market caps of $2.52 billion and $2.32 billion respectively.
Smaller precious-metal tokens such as KAG (silver) and KAU also grew, though their market shares contracted slightly amid gold’s price rally.
Spot trading in tokenized gold alone surpassed $90.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026—already exceeding the entire 2025 full-year volume of $84.6 billion—highlighting intense investor interest and liquidity on centralized exchanges.
Newer categories showed impressive early traction.
Tokenized stocks, which only launched in earnest mid-2025 through platforms like Backed Finance’s xStocks and Ondo Finance, scaled to nearly $487 million by quarter’s end.
Tech-heavy names dominated: Circle-related tokens led with a combined $171 million, followed by Tesla ($62 million), Nvidia ($43 million), and Alphabet ($37 million).
Quarterly spot trading volume for these equities reached $15.1 billion in Q1 2026, topping the second-half 2025 total.
Tokenized ETFs, meanwhile, grew to $300 million, with flagship products tracking the S&P 500 and silver trusts each surpassing $30 million in capitalization.
Derivatives activity underscored the maturing market. RWA perpetual futures volume more than doubled year-over-year, hitting $524.8 billion in Q1 2026 compared with $313 billion for all of 2025.
Commodities still commanded the lion’s share of perp trading, but stocks and ETFs were gaining ground quickly.
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 contract captured 28.6 percent of Q1 volume, pushing open interest across RWA perps to $6.68 billion.
The research report from CoinGecko attributes the acceleration to clearer regulatory frameworks established in 2024–2025, which encouraged traditional finance institutions to participate more actively.
Centralized exchanges, in particular, have rolled out dedicated TradFi strategies to improve accessibility and distribution.
Competition among issuers now centers on regulatory compliance, breadth of asset coverage, and seamless integration with both centralized and decentralized platforms.
As tokenized Treasuries, gold, equities, and ETFs continue to attract capital, the RWA sector is transitioning from niche experiment to a core pillar of digital asset markets. With trading volumes breaking records and institutional pipelines strengthening, CoinGecko’s data suggests 2026 could mark the year RWAs move from a seemingly promising trend to established infrastructure.