The real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation market has reached an estimated $33.5 to $36 billion in on-chain value as of July 2026, excluding stablecoins — roughly four times its size at the start of 2025. The growth is no longer driven solely by tokenised money market funds. Tokenised equities have emerged as the fastest-growing category, with distributed tokenised stocks nearly doubling from $951 million in March 2026 to $1.89 billion by July. Behind the numbers are concrete infrastructure milestones from names including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Ondo, Tradeweb and Broadridge, signalling that tokenisation is moving from pilot projects into production-grade financial plumbing.
The Wider RWA Market in Mid-2026
Excluding stablecoins, the total value of RWAs represented on blockchains has expanded at a striking pace. Key contributing asset classes include:
- Tokenised US Treasuries and money market funds — still the largest single segment by value.
- Tokenised equities and ETFs — the fastest-growing category by percentage growth.
- Private credit, commodities and real estate — smaller in headline value but steadily accumulating.
BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, a tokenised money market fund on Ethereum, passed $2.8 billion in assets under management. Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX reached $2.44 billion. Together, these two products account for a significant share of all tokenised Treasury exposure on-chain.
Tokenised Equities: From Niche to Mainstream
The standout story of 2026 so far is the rapid expansion of distributed tokenised stocks. Between March and July, the total value of tokenised equities in circulation grew from roughly $951 million to $1.89 billion — an increase of nearly 100% in four months.
Three platforms account for the overwhelming majority of distributed value:
- Ondo Finance
- xStocks
- Securitize
Together, these providers represent more than 85% of distributed tokenised equity value. The concentration reflects the early stage of the market, but it also shows that a small group of issuers and infrastructure providers are establishing the standards that others may follow.
BlackRock’s IVV ETF Goes On-Chain
On 4 July 2026, Ondo Finance tokenised shares of BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) alongside individual equities such as Micron Technology. This was conducted under the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s third-party custodial tokenisation model.
The significance is considerable. IVV became the first major exchange-traded fund to exist both in traditional brokerage accounts and on a blockchain, with identical investor protections. Under the third-party custodial model:
- The underlying securities are held by a qualified custodian.
- Tokens on-chain represent beneficial ownership.
- Investors retain the same rights and protections as holders of the traditional security.
This bridges the gap between conventional regulated markets and public blockchains without diluting the legal and regulatory safeguards that institutional and retail investors expect.
Real-Time Settlement for Tokenised Treasuries
Another milestone came on 1 July 2026, when Tradeweb settled tokenised US Treasuries on the Canton Network in real time. Tradeweb, a major electronic trading platform for fixed income and derivatives, demonstrated that tokenised government securities can be traded and settled almost instantaneously using distributed ledger technology.
For context, traditional Treasury settlement typically operates on a T+1 basis. Real-time settlement reduces counterparty risk, frees up capital and could materially improve liquidity management for institutional participants.
Shareholder Governance Reaches Tokenised Equities
A frequent criticism of tokenised stocks has been that holders lose practical access to corporate governance rights such as proxy voting. On 20 July 2026, Alpaca and Broadridge announced an integration that embeds shareholder governance directly into tokenised equities.
This means token holders can:
- Receive proxy statements.
- Cast votes on corporate actions.
- Participate in shareholder meetings.
Restoring these rights addresses one of the key functional gaps between tokenised and traditional equities, making tokenised stock a more complete representation of the underlying security.
What This Means for the UK
While many of these milestones originate in US markets, they carry implications for UK investors and institutions. The Financial Conduct Authority and HM Treasury continue to monitor tokenised securities, and the Bank of England’s work on settlement infrastructure remains active. As global standards for custodial tokenisation mature, UK-based platforms and asset managers are likely to follow similar models.
The combination of regulated custodianship, real-time settlement and embedded governance rights suggests that tokenised equities are evolving from an experimental concept into a credible parallel to traditional securities infrastructure.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.