Solana Gains Ground in Tokenized Asset Markets as Ethereum Retains RWA Lead
Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain for tokenized real-world assets, but Solana is emerging as the only other major network with meaningful RWA spot trading activity, according to a CoinShares and Token Terminal report.
Ethereum continues to dominate the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market, but Solana is strengthening its position as the sector expands beyond traditional crypto trading. A joint report from CoinShares and Token Terminal found that Solana has become the only other major ecosystem to develop significant spot trading activity for tokenized assets.
Ethereum Leads, Solana Builds Momentum
The report attributed the concentration of RWA activity to the liquidity and trading infrastructure already available on established networks. Asset issuers and market makers tend to favor ecosystems with active markets, while newer blockchains are competing to attract established decentralized finance applications and the liquidity they bring.
Ethereum remains the clear leader in both tokenized asset trading and lending. Nearly 70% of RWA deposits allocated to lending platforms were held in protocols built on Ethereum, making the network the primary ecosystem for using real-world assets as on-chain collateral.
Solana’s progress is being driven largely by Kamino, a native lending platform focused on productive uses for RWA collateral. The network’s combination of high throughput, lower transaction costs and growing DeFi infrastructure has helped it develop a more substantial RWA market than most competing chains.
Other major networks have not yet achieved comparable spot-market activity:
- Ethereum: Dominant in RWA spot trading and lending.
- Solana: The only other ecosystem identified as having significant RWA spot trading activity.
- Plasma: Ranked second in RWA lending, supported by Aave’s expansion beyond Ethereum.
- Arbitrum, BNB Chain and Base: Operational for years but still lacking meaningful RWA spot trading activity.
RWAs Diverge From Broader DeFi
Tokenized assets have continued to expand even as crypto-native activity weakened. Between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, aggregate spot decentralized exchange volumes fell by approximately 70%, while RWA spot trading volumes increased by about 220% year over year from a smaller base.
The report also highlighted a widening gap between broader DeFi and tokenized assets. Total DeFi deposits declined by roughly 15% during the period, reflecting investor withdrawals and lower crypto-asset prices. By contrast, RWA deposits across lending platforms and decentralized exchanges more than tripled, rising from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion.
What This Means
The data suggests that RWA adoption is increasingly tied to financial utility rather than speculative crypto-market conditions. Ethereum’s liquidity advantage gives it a durable lead, particularly in collateralized lending, but Solana’s emergence in spot trading indicates that the market is beginning to support a meaningful second venue.
For Solana, continued growth will depend on attracting more issuers, market makers and DeFi applications around platforms such as Kamino. If tokenized assets keep expanding independently of crypto-native volumes, Solana could become a more important challenger in on-chain capital markets—even while Ethereum remains the sector’s dominant settlement and lending hub.