Tokenized Real-World Assets Market to Reach $18.9 Trillion by 2033, Driven by Ethereum and Stellar
3min read The market for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) is projected to reach $18.9 trillion by 2033, according to industry experts. This forecast is considered conservative, as the adoption of stablecoins suggests an even larger market expansion. The rapid growth of tokenized RWAs is also driving blockchain adoption, with 60% of the RWA tokenization value being driven by Ethereum.
However, Ethereum is not the only Layer-1 (L1) blockchain contributing to this growth. The stellar network ranks second for the most tokenization use cases. Denelle Dixon, executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, stated that Stellar has around $470 million in tokenized treasuries, commodities, and yield-bearing stablecoins on the network. In November 2019, Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, began planning to build a tokenized money market fund on Stellar. This fund, known as the “OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund” (FOBXX), has grown to be the third-largest tokenized money market fund, with about $701.7 million in total asset value, the majority of which is on the Stellar network. By tokenizing securities, this integration enables institutions to reduce transaction costs from $1 to less than a penny, significantly lowering operational expenses.
Franklin Templeton, which manages $1.7 trillion in assets, could see substantial efficiency gains from this technology. Moving forward, Stellar aims to power $3 billion in RWA value on-chain within this year. The network has set specific goals around new partnerships to achieve this, including the launch of Societe Generale-Forge’s EUR-backed stablecoin (EURCV) and Ondo’s yield-bearing stablecoin, the United States Dollar Yield (USDY). Additionally, Etherfuse is bringing “stablebonds” to the Stellar network, offering asset-backed products designed to hold value and provide potential returns.
Another L1 blockchain, Avalanche, is also seeking to drive billions into the tokenized RWA market. Morgan Krupetsky, senior director of business development, institutions, and capital markets for Ava Labs, highlighted that Avalanche’s network has high throughput, sub-second finality, low transaction costs, and customizability, making it ideal for RWA tokenization, trade, and transfer at internet scale. Asset management firm WisdomTree recently expanded its institutional investment platform, WisdomTree Connect, to include 13 tokenized funds across various blockchains, including Avalanche. Avalanche plans to expand the diversity and scale of tokenized RWAs on the network, offering stablecoins and other cash equivalents to stocks, bonds, private credit, and other alternatives. Finance company Intain developed a platform that leverages Avalanche architecture to launch an on-chain marketplace for tokenized asset-backed securities (ABS), known as “IntainMARKETS,” which has already administered over $6 billion in tokenized loans.
Injective, another L1 network, is focused on reshaping finance by making RWA tokenization compliant through a native token factory and permissions module. Eric Chen, co-founder of Injective, explained that Injective’s on-chain exchange module lets any issuer create secondary markets for their assets. Libre, an RWA issuer, recently launched tokenized versions of a BlackRock money market fund and a Laser Digital carry fund on Injective, setting up a market where over 15 institutional market makers can quote prices, allowing users to enter and exit these funds seamlessly. This unlocks liquidity and democratizes access to products previously only available to a select few. Another key use case for Injective is collateralization, allowing users to margin Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) perpetuals with yield-bearing stablecoins. While Injective has not disclosed a target figure, the network is built to capture a major share of the RWA market, which already exceeds $10 billion in total value locked.
Despite the growth, challenges remain in the tokenization of RWAs. Creating consistent demand and secondary market liquidity has been a hurdle. Without active markets or integration into broader DeFi or TradFi workflows, tokenized RWAs risk staying static representations rather than functional assets. To combat this, the industry should focus on “distribution-first tokenization,” where RWAs are integrated first into DeFi products. Industry experts should then think about how these offerings can fit into more traditional distribution channels. Most financial institutions and market participants still operate on legacy systems, lacking seamless integration bridges, onboarding, servicing, and reporting on tokenized assets. The industry should invest in middleware, token standards, and integration tools that enable compatibility with both DeFi and TradFi systems, while working closely with custodians, fund administrators, and compliance providers to bridge on- and off-chain infrastructure. Unclear regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions remain a further challenge, but industry experts are confident that 2025 will be a milestone year for tokenized RWAs. Bhaji Illuminati, CEO at RWA platform Centrifuge, noted that institutional interest is turning into action, regulatory clarity is slowly improving, and the infrastructure powering tokenization is maturing. Tokenized RWAs are moving from pilot programs to real allocation strategies, and exponential growth in on-chain volumes is expected as tokenization becomes a core part of asset issuance and trading.
