The size of the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has increased by more than 420% since the start of 2025, as investors were treated to easier market access and regulatory clarity, according to analysts.

The RWA market cap was about $5.8 billion on Jan. 1, 2025, but has since risen to more than $30.2 billion as of Wednesday, according to analytics platform RWA.xyz. Tokenized US Treasurys experienced the largest increase, from $3.9 billion at the start of 2025 to more than $15 billion, followed by commodities.

Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told Cointelegraph the surge in the RWA sector was driven by tokenized Treasurys, which offer compliant onchain access to real-world yield and effectively turn blockchain rails into a distribution layer for institutional capital.

“Expansion into tokenized funds and equities has materially increased the addressable market. This points to a shift from speculative inflows toward yield-driven capital,” he said.

“Tokenized commodities like gold have gained traction, particularly amid heightened volatility from ongoing geopolitical tensions, as 24/7 markets unlock continuous liquidity and global access when traditional venues are closed,” the analyst added.  

Tokenization has been one of the drivers of institutional interest in blockchain and crypto over the past year. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest predicts digital assets could grow into a $28 trillion market by 2030, with Bitcoin, decentralized finance, stablecoins and tokenized RWAs as key drivers.

Regulatory clarity coaxed institutional players into the market

Regulatory clarity through legislation such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has also helped attract institutional players and fresh capital to the RWA sector, according to a Thursday report from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko.

Zhong Yang Chan, CoinGecko’s head of research, and research analyst Yuqian Lim said in the report that a few years ago, the RWA market rallied more on hype than substance. 

“However, the RWA sector has finally started to take shape from 2024 onward. Regulatory clarity has enabled major TradFi institutional players to dip their toes in. As early experiments paved the way by turning into best practices and playbooks, the pace of tokenization has noticeably accelerated,” they said.

BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) went live in March 2024. The tokenized US Treasury fund provides onchain access to short-term US government debt. Fidelity followed suit in September 2025 with its own tokenized Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT).

“2025 has proven to be a watershed year for RWAs. For both crypto-native and traditional players, competition within the RWA and tokenization stack has intensified, with issuers now differentiating on regulatory standing, asset coverage and distribution reach,” Zhong and Yuqian added.

Continued growth could depend on other areas of the sector 

Tokenized Treasurys and commodities have experienced the largest rise in the RWA sector, but in the long term, other areas will likely need to be catalysts for continued growth, said John of Zeus Research. 

“Growth remains strong as tokenized Treasurys keep absorbing capital and bring more institutions on board, but the rate of expansion should moderate as the easiest flow has been allocated,” he said.

“The next leg higher depends on whether tokenized equities, funds and private credit scale meaningfully.”