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Real-World Assets Reshape DeFi Lending Markets

BY | ETF Database
10:08 am ET 08/28/26 | 6 VIEWS
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Tokenized real-world assets are emerging as a preferred form of collateral in decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms that let investors lend, borrow, and trade without a bank or broker as a middleman. That’s happening even as broader DeFi lending shrinks, according to a recent report from CoinShares and Token Terminal.Key Takeaways: Real-world asset deposits in DeFi more than tripled while overall DeFi deposits fell. Ethereum hosts almost 70% of tokenized collateral, with Solana and Plasma growing fast. CoinShares ETFs like DIME and BTF offer exposure to the blockchains driving this shift. Between the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, total deposits across decentralized finance platforms fell by about 15%, according to the report. Over the same stretch, deposits of tokenized real-world assets more than tripled, climbing from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion. The gap points to demand driven by real financial use rather than swings in crypto prices. See more: Tokenized Stocks Fuel Growth in On-Chain Trading Tokenized Treasury and multi-strategy funds accounted for the largest share of that growth. Among the leading products were the Janus Henderson Anemoy Treasury Fund (JTRSY) and BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). Also among them was sUSDS, a yield-bearing version of the USDS stablecoin from Sky, the protocol formerly known as MakerDAO. Private credit products also gained ground, the report found. That group was led by the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Strategy (JAAA) and syrupUSDC, a yield-bearing stablecoin from lending platform Maple Finance. Investors are gravitating toward collateral that keeps generating income while still backing loans, lowering the cost of tying up capital. That shift in composition has also reshaped where this activity happens across different blockchains.Ethereum Still Dominates DeFi CollateralEthereum hosts almost 70% of all real-world asset collateral deposited across DeFi lending platforms, the report shows. Plasma, a newer network built around Aave’s expansion beyond Ethereum, has become the second-largest ecosystem for this activity. Solana’s growth has been driven largely by Kamino, a lending platform built specifically for these assets. The concentration reflects one of DeFi’s basic dynamics. Borrowers gravitate toward venues with deep liquidity, while lenders deploy capital where borrowing demand already exists, per the report. That leaves newer blockchains competing to build both liquidity and trust from scratch. Investors looking for exposure to the blockchains underpinning this shift have a few options. The CoinShares Altcoins ETF (DIME) invests in a basket of exchange-traded products tied to layer-1 networks. Its holdings include exposure to Solana, one of the chains gaining ground in real-world asset lending. Ethereum’s dominance in this market also comes with its own dedicated fund options. The CoinShares Bitcoin and Ether ETF (BTF A-) invests in bitcoin and ether futures contracts, giving investors indirect exposure to Ethereum. Even after tripling, real-world asset deposits still make up a small slice of total DeFi activity. They reached about 6% of all deposits by the second quarter of 2026, up from near zero at the end of 2023, the data shows. For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.

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