Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) opened 2026 with renewed inflows: total value locked rose to $21.35 billion in January, a climb of 5% from $20.33 billion. The sector added more than a billion dollars in the opening weeks of the month, bringing both market size and holder counts higher.
RWA Market Growth in January 2026
The increase to $21.35 billion reflects fresh capital moving into tokenized versions of traditional assets, and early January accounted for over $1 billion of that growth. Metrics also show roughly 636,898 holders in the RWA space, a figure that is up 8.94% over the past 30 days.
Blockchain Dominance in the RWA Sector
Value locked across blockchains is concentrated: Ethereum leads the field with $12.8 billion, followed by BNB Chain at $2 billion. Solana and the Liquid Network each sit near $1.1 billion, while Stellar holds about $1 billion in RWA value.
Top RWA Asset Categories
- U.S. Treasury debt: $9.05 billion.
- Commodities: $3.77 billion.
- Private credit: $2.44 billion.
- Institutional alternative funds: $2.19 billion.
Leading RWA Tokens
The largest tokenized assets by market cap are dominated by gold and Treasury-linked products. Tether’s gold-backed XAUT leads with a market cap of $1.93 billion, followed by Paxos’ PAXG at $1.76 billion and Blackrock’s tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL at $1.71 billion.
RWA Sector Trends and Outlook
After a modest dip late in the previous year, the sector has recovered capital and seen its holder base expand. Capital remains clustered in Treasurys and gold-backed tokens, while Ethereum continues to capture the largest share of RWA value.
Why this matters
For a miner operating between 1 and 1,000 devices in Russia, these developments do not directly change hashing or hardware requirements. At the same time, the concentration of RWA value on Ethereum and in Treasury/gold tokens can influence where on-chain activity and fees concentrate, which is useful to watch if you follow mining revenue tied to transaction fees.
Even if tokenization growth does not alter your day-to-day operations, it signals where capital and development are clustering in the broader crypto ecosystem. Tracking these shifts helps you anticipate network load and fee patterns that can affect short-term mining returns.
What to do?
- Monitor Ethereum network metrics and transaction fees so you understand how demand could affect short-term mining income.
- Keep mining equipment efficient: regular maintenance and power monitoring help preserve margins regardless of market flows.
- Stay informed about major RWA tokens and funds to follow where on-chain liquidity is concentrating; for background, see the RWA market in 2025 and recent takes on asset tokenization 2026.
- Ensure compliance with local rules and your hosting provider’s policies to avoid interruptions if regulatory attention on tokenized products increases.
Short FAQ
What are RWAs? RWAs are traditional assets—like Treasurys, commodities, and bonds—that have been tokenized on blockchains to enable fractional ownership and on-chain liquidity. These tokenized assets aim to link off-chain value with on-chain systems and DeFi applications.
How large is the RWA market in January 2026? Total value locked stands at $21.35 billion after more than $1 billion was added in the opening weeks of January 2026.
Which blockchain leads RWA value? Ethereum leads with $12.8 billion locked, ahead of other platforms such as BNB Chain, Solana, Liquid Network and Stellar.
Which tokens are largest? The top RWA tokens by market cap are Tether’s XAUT ($1.93 billion), Paxos’ PAXG ($1.76 billion) and Blackrock’s BUIDL ($1.71 billion).
