On-Chain Real-World Assets Surged 85%, But Usage Remains Limited

The total value of on-chain real-world assets has increased by 85.2% since the beginning of the year, reaching $34.18 billion.

According to a Binance Research report cited by Wu Blockchain, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) reached a size of $34.18 billion as of September 15, 2026. This value represents an 85.2% increase since the start of the year.

Bonds and money market funds formed the backbone of this growth. The combined on-chain value of these two groups was reported as $18.29 billion. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks grew by 390.4% during the same period. Together, these two categories accounted for more than three-quarters of the new value added to the market.

Gap Between Growth and Usage in the RWA Market

Data in the report indicates a distinct gap between the migration of assets to the blockchain and their active use in financial applications. Binance Research estimates that only approximately 0.01% of underlying assets have been tokenized.

In contrast, approximately 12% of the on-chain RWA value is actively utilized in liquidity pools, lending protocols, and collateral markets. This ratio reveals that despite the growth of the tokenization process, not all assets have gained functionality within decentralized finance applications.

The report stated that the next phase of growth for the RWA sector will not rely solely on moving more bonds, stocks, or funds onto the chain. According to Binance Research, the real opportunity lies in making tokenized assets usable within DeFi and integrating them more broadly into liquidity, lending, and collateral transactions.