RWA Tokenization Crosses $185 Billion: The Supercycle Wall Street Can No Longer Ignore
The numbers no longer whisper—they shout. Over $185 billion in real-world assets now live on blockchains, marking a 539% surge in tokenized U.S. Treasuries alone over the past 15 months. When BlackRock's tokenized treasury fund breaks $2.9 billion and the SEC quietly drops its investigation into Ondo Finance, the message is clear: tokenization has graduated from experiment to infrastructure.
Wall Street broker Bernstein has declared 2026 the beginning of a "tokenization supercycle"—not another hype cycle, but a structural transformation of how trillions in assets move, settle, and generate yield. Here's why this matters, what's driving it, and how the path to $30 trillion by 2030 is being paved in real-time.
The $185 Billion Reality Check
Forget the speculative projections for a moment. Let's examine what's already on-chain according to RWA.xyz tracking data:
- Stablecoins: Over $170 billion (USDT, USDC, and emerging players)
- Private Credit: $9-10 billion, with Figure alone tokenizing $12 billion in home equity lines
- Tokenized Treasuries: Exceeding $4 billion across money market products
- Commodities: Roughly $1.2 billion in tokenized gold and precious metals
- Real Estate: $2-3 billion in fractional property ownership
The skeptics will argue that stablecoins shouldn't count as "real" RWA tokenization. But this misses the point entirely. Stablecoins represent the largest, most battle-tested implementation of tokenized real-world value—over $170 billion in dollar-denominated assets running on public blockchains with 24/7 settlement. They proved the model. Everything else is following their playbook.
BlackRock's BUIDL: The $2.9 Billion Proof Point
When the world's largest asset manager launches a tokenized product, pay attention. When it breaks records, take notes.
BlackRock's BUIDL fund (USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund) has accumulated approximately $2.9 billion in AUM since its March 2024 launch, making it the dominant force in tokenized treasuries. The fund now represents nearly half of the global tokenized U.S. Treasury market.
What makes BUIDL significant isn't just its size—it's the infrastructure it represents:
- Nine blockchain networks: Ethereum, Arbitrum, Aptos, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana
- Daily interest payments: Automated via smart contracts, backed 1:1 by real Treasury securities
- Collateral acceptance: Major platforms including Binance, Crypto.com, and Deribit now accept BUIDL as collateral
- DeFi integration: Jupiter's JupUSD stablecoin is backed 90% by Ethena's USDtb, which itself is collateralized by BUIDL
This isn't a crypto-native experiment. It's Bank of New York Mellon handling custody, Securitize managing tokenization, and BlackRock's institutional reputation on the line. When $2.9 billion flows into a structure like this, traditional finance isn't "exploring" blockchain—it's deploying to production.
The SEC Blinks: Ondo's Regulatory Victory
For nearly two years, the regulatory cloud hanging over RWA tokenization kept institutional capital on the sidelines. That cloud evaporated in late 2025 when the SEC formally closed its investigation into Ondo Finance—no charges, no enforcement actions, no settlement fines.
The inquiry began in October 2023 during the SEC's aggressive scrutiny of digital asset firms. Its quiet conclusion signals a fundamental shift: tokenized securities built with proper compliance structures are viable under current U.S. law.
Ondo Finance hasn't been sitting idle. The platform now manages over $730 million in TVL through products like OUSG, which provides tokenized exposure to U.S. Treasury securities—notably backed by BlackRock assets through BUIDL. This creates a direct pipeline between the world's largest asset manager and DeFi infrastructure.
The regulatory clearance means more aggressive expansion is now viable: retail access, public blockchain deployment, and deeper DeFi integration. When the SEC stops hunting and starts providing clarity, capital flows.
The Institutional Stampede
BlackRock isn't alone. The institutional deployment has shifted from pilot programs to production infrastructure.
Franklin Templeton now manages over $700 million through its BENJI token, representing exposure to its OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund. It was the first SEC-registered fund to use a public blockchain (Stellar) as its official share register.
JPMorgan's Onyx network processes approximately $2 billion daily in internal transfers, with its Tokenized Collateral Network (TCN) moving from pilot phase into live production with major buy-side firms. JPMorgan has processed over $300 billion through tokenized systems—validating blockchain's capacity for institutional volume.
Securitize has emerged as the dominant tokenization platform, controlling 20% of the RWA market and powering BlackRock's treasury fund. The company's announcement of going public via SPAC merger at a $1.25 billion valuation demonstrates market maturation.
Apollo launched a tokenized diversified credit fund (ACRED via Securitize) that reached $106 million in on-chain AUM by mid-2025. Private equity giants like KKR have followed suit, tokenizing portions of credit funds to enable lower minimums and faster liquidity.
The Private Credit Opportunity
While tokenized treasuries grab headlines, private credit represents the sleeping giant—$16.8 billion and growing fast.
Traditional private credit markets are notoriously illiquid, with high minimum investments ($1M+), lengthy lock-up periods, and opaque pricing. Tokenization fundamentally changes the equation:
- Fractional ownership: Lower entry points for accredited investors
- Secondary markets: 24/7 trading instead of quarterly redemptions
- Transparent pricing: On-chain visibility into collateral and performance
- Automated distributions: Smart contract-based yield payments
Figure Technologies has demonstrated the scale possible, tokenizing over $12 billion in home equity lines of credit. The efficiency gains—faster origination, lower administrative costs, programmable compliance—make the business case compelling.
Bernstein's Supercycle Thesis
Bernstein's January 2026 research note didn't mince words: crypto markets have bottomed, and a "tokenization supercycle" will drive the next leg higher. The broker maintained its $150,000 Bitcoin target for 2026 and $200,000 for the 2027 cycle peak.
What distinguishes a supercycle from ordinary market enthusiasm? Structural adoption.
Bernstein's thesis rests on several pillars:
- Stablecoin expansion: Total supply projected to rise 56% to $420 billion by year-end 2026
- Institutional TVL doubling: Value locked on blockchains expected to reach $80 billion
- Regulatory clarity: The GENIUS Act's July 2025 passage created a licensing regime that legitimizes tokenization
- Key beneficiaries: Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle positioned to capture institutional flows
Unlike retail-driven cycles of the past, the current phase is shaped by banks, asset managers, and financial intermediaries building long-term infrastructure—not short-term trading positions.
The Path to $30 Trillion
The projections have converged. Boston Consulting Group, Citigroup, and multiple analysts forecast tokenized assets reaching $16-30 trillion by 2030. That's not hyperbole—it's the logical endpoint of current trajectories.
Consider the math:
- Current tokenized RWAs (including stablecoins): ~$185 billion
- 2026 projection (Hashdex): $400 billion
- 2028 projection (Standard Chartered): $2 trillion
- 2030 projection (BCG/Ripple): $16-20 trillion
A compound annual growth rate of 45-72% sounds aggressive until you realize that tokenized U.S. Treasuries grew 539% in 15 months. The infrastructure is in place. The regulatory clarity is emerging. The institutional capital is flowing.
December 2025 brought another milestone: the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets authorized a three-year pilot enabling DTCC to tokenize Russell 1000 equities, U.S. Treasury securities, and major index ETFs. This pilot, expected to launch H2 2026, represents the most significant U.S. regulatory approval for tokenized equities.
Four Industries Facing Disruption
The Motley Fool and Nasdaq identified four sectors ripe for tokenization transformation in 2026:
Real Estate: The largest asset class (30.50% market share in 2024), where fractional ownership unlocks liquidity in historically illiquid markets. Platforms are enabling $100 investments in commercial properties that previously required $100,000 minimums.
Commodities: The fastest-growing segment (50.10% CAGR), with tokenized gold and precious metals providing 24/7 trading access and instant settlement—features traditional commodity markets can't match.
Private Credit: Institutional-grade yields meeting retail accessibility. The $16.8 billion market is growing as platforms lower barriers to entry.
Equities: The DTCC pilot opens the door to tokenized stocks trading around the clock, eliminating T+2 settlement and enabling programmable corporate actions.
What This Means for Builders
The tokenization supercycle isn't just about buying exposure—it's about building infrastructure.
The winning platforms will combine:
- Regulatory compliance: License frameworks under GENIUS Act, MiCA, and regional regimes
- Multi-chain deployment: Meeting capital wherever it lives
- Institutional-grade custody: Bank partnerships for credibility and insurance
- DeFi composability: Enabling tokenized assets to serve as collateral, liquidity, and yield sources
The $185 billion milestone proves the concept. The $30 trillion destination requires builders who understand both traditional finance requirements and blockchain capabilities.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, summarized the moment: "2026 will be the year banks move from testing to implementation. Tokenization is edging closer to becoming a mainstream capital raising tool. The efficiency gains and benefits of broader access are simply too big to ignore."
For teams building RWA infrastructure requiring reliable blockchain API access, BlockEden.xyz provides enterprise-grade endpoints across Ethereum, Sui, Aptos, and other networks—supporting the tokenization platforms reshaping global finance.