RWA market hits $51B as tokenized private credits surges: Bernstein

The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has grown to $51 billion, up 42% this year, as private credit becomes the largest segment of the market, according to a Bernstein Research report seen by Cointelegraph.

Private credit accounted for roughly 44% of total RWA value, Bernstein said, reflecting growing use of blockchain-based infrastructure for lending and fund structures.

The $51 billion valuation sits well above other industry estimates, such as RWA.xyz’s $34 billion figure, highlighting how different analytics providers count tokenized assets.

Institutional players are increasingly entering the market through tokenized lending and fund structures, including BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund BUIDL, which has surpassed $2.5 billion in assets, Bernstein said.

Tokenized RWA market cap. Source: Bernstein Research

Figure tops tokenized RWA platforms with $18 billion

Tokenized private credit has emerged as a major RWA segment, providing a way to record loans on blockchain networks instead of traditional banking systems. These loans are issued outside banks, with investors funding them directly in exchange for interest payments.

According to Bernstein, much of the growth in onchain private credit assets has been driven by Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR), a financial technology company that uses blockchain infrastructure for loan origination and settlement.

Figure ranked first among tokenized RWA platforms with $18 billion in assets, largely tied to private credit, according to Bernstein. Securitize and Paxos followed with about $4.2 billion each across different underlying asset classes, including treasuries, commodities and stocks.

Figure leads tokenized RWA platforms by assets. Source: Bernstein Research

The report said Figure has tokenized $5 billion in consumer loans so far in 2026, while monthly loan volume reached a record $1.3 billion in April 2026. It also noted that Connect, Figure’s blockchain marketplace for credit, contributed 56% of total loan volumes in the first quarter of 2026.

Blockchain becomes infrastructure layer for global capital markets

“Private credit is becoming one of the fastest-growing sectors in real-world assets because it solves two major problems at once: investors want yield, and businesses need capital,” Stobox co-founder Ross Shemeliak told Cointelegraph.

Shemeliak said tokenized US Treasurys were the first major institutional success in the RWA market, but private credit offers higher potential returns and more direct exposure to the real economy.

He also noted that tracking of the real-world asset market has changed significantly since last year, as many analytics platforms previously undercounted private credit because these structures often operate through special purpose vehicles, custodians or hybrid onchain and offchain models.

“The bigger story is not whether private credit is number one today,” Shemeliak said, adding: “The real story is that blockchain is quietly becoming the infrastructure layer for global capital markets.”

Tokenized treasuries and derivatives drive broader RWA adoption

Among other RWA segments, US Treasury debt remains the second-largest RWA category after private credit, accounting for roughly 30% of the market, while commodities make up another 14%, according to Bernstein.

The report also pointed to growing activity in onchain RWA derivatives through the decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid, which it described as a “leading venue for onchain RWA derivatives.”

Bernstein said RWA-related open interest on Hyperliquid reached $2.6 billion in May, while trading volumes totaled $65 billion in April 2026.

Cointelegraph reached out to Bernstein for comment, but had not received a response by publication.