The tokenization of real‑world assets (RWAs) on public blockchains exploded in 2025, with total on‑chain value surging by an estimated 232% year‑over‑year. This was driven by a wave of institutional adoption that is blurring the lines between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized infrastructure.
In 2025, several entities transitioned from small pilots to tokenizing financial assets, including Treasuries, corporate bonds, private credit, and commodities. A factor that helped push the total on-chain RWAs to $18.6 billion, according to Cryptopolitan analysts.
Cryptopolitan noted in its “State of Onchain Activity” report that on-chain RWA activity increased by more than $13 billion in 2025, compared with $5.6 billion in 2024.
Tokenized equities value increased 27x
According to the report, tokenized equities drove impressive growth in RWAs, bringing traditional stocks and ETFs onto the blockchain. From $31.57 million in January last year, tokenized stocks soared to $858.43 million by December, a 27-fold increase in just 12 months. Platforms such as xStocks and Ondo Global Markets particularly fueled the surge, paving the way for actual equities on crypto rails. They provided investors 24/7 availability, fractional ownership, and near-instant settlement.
Considering the explosive rise in RWAs and institutional adoption, some analysts believe the market could exceed $2 trillion by the year 2030. In early 2024, McKinsey analysts predicted the on-chain RWA value could rise to over $4 trillion under bullish conditions. Around the same time, Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, also noted that more institutions would tokenize financial assets and soon every stock, every bond […] would be on one general ledger.
Tokenization did not suddenly take off overnight. Early entrants, including TZERO and a few pioneers, began exploring blockchain-based securities, paving the way for the growth we see today.
However, the sector truly took off when BlackRock launched its BUIDL fund on Ethereum, alongside Securitize, in March 2024. The fund’s value grew from $40 million at the fund’s inception to $1.8 billion on-chain as of the end of 2025. To date, BUIDL has expanded beyond Ethereum to encompass several networks, including BNB Chain and Aptos.
The stablecoin market hit $300 billion in 2025
The Cryptopolitan report also reveals that RWAs were not the only assets recently experiencing exponential growth; stablecoins also saw a surge. In total, stablecoin capitalization increased from $216 billion to $306.4 billion, representing a $90 billion rise, or 42%, which indicates the ongoing demand for blockchain-based settlement assets.
Moreover, stablecoins have achieved a 30-day average transaction volume of approximately $3.4 trillion, surpassing that of Visa, PayPal, and global remittances. Additionally, the number of daily stablecoin senders also jumped to 2.3 million from 1.2 million. Cryptopolitan analysts also found that stablecoins were being used more for payments and transfers in the year than for speculative trading.
Timothy Massad, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, had cited the enactment of the GENIUS Act as a catalyst for market growth in stablecoins, arguing that the framework brought clarity. He remarked, “The passage of the GENIUS Act was quite important. That created a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins that we haven’t had.”
However, stablecoins were already taking off among institutions before the GENIUS Act took effect. Stripe said in May that its platform would support stablecoin rails across more than 100 countries. In September, PayPal also added PYUSD support on the Tron and Avalanche networks.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/on-chain-rwa-surge-232-in-2025/
