Author: Heechang Kang

I believe that 2027 will be a decisive year for tokenized assets, and the signals have already appeared in this year’s data. Today, thousands of stocks, commodities, private companies, and index products are on-chain, but trading volume is concentrated in a few venues.

RootData shows that the competition is no longer about who can issue the most products, but who can truly complete distribution and execution. The winning companies will be those that can convert a wide product catalog into concentrated liquidity, repeated trading, and continuous returning users.

Let’s walk along the chain from issuers to trading venues and then to the assets themselves, and see where the market currently stands.

Main source: RootData tokenized asset dashboard. The analysis uses indicators such as trading volume, open interest, market share, spreads, depth, and asset coverage. Issuer comparisons use supplementary public data; for centralized and extended on-chain venue comparisons, the CoinMarketCap Research's dataset of 19 venues for RWA perpetual contracts is utilized.

1. Issuers: The top three command 72%

Source:rwa.xyz

The current circulating value of tokenized stocks is $2.91 billion, held by 3.17 million holders. The circulating value here refers to the market value of tokens that can leave the issuing platform and be transferred between wallets (definition here). Over the past thirty days, this value has grown by 7.43%, while the number of holders has increased by 174.29%, with the expansion of the crowd far outpacing the underlying capital.

Currently, the average holder has about $918. This seems less like institutional allocation and more like a wave of small wallets trying the product for the first time. The monthly transfer volume is $13.31 billion, about 4.6 times the circulating value; however, it has declined by 52.65% during the same period, while new holders continue to pour in. The pace of access expansion far exceeds the formation of usage habits. The next number to watch is how many of these holders will return for a second or third transaction.

Ondo, bStocks, and xStocks together control about 72% of the reported tokenized stock value. This gives the three companies real influence over custody, redemption, network selection, and where liquidity ultimately settles.

For other competitors, rather than issuing hundreds of barely traded tokens, it is better to build a product line that is smaller in range but with clear legal rights, capable of redeeming in tough times, and with a ledger depth sufficient to absorb real orders, thereby establishing a more solid business.

2. Trading venues: Binance leads, Hyperliquid anchors on-chain liquidity

Source: Coinmarketcap, Rootdata

The cumulative RWA perpetual contract trading volume for 2026 is concentrated in a few venues: Binance handled $1.59 trillion, Hyperliquid HIP-3 $542.8 billion, OKX $345.1 billion, and Bitget $238.2 billion. This totals approximately 86% of the $3.16 trillion market. Hyperliquid is the only on-chain venue among this group, accounting for 17.2% of the total trading volume.

Throughout this year, the balance between the parties has also changed. With the rise of stock perpetual contracts, traders have flowed back to centralized order books. The market share of on-chain venues dropped from around 45% in December to 13% in August, while Binance's monthly share climbed to 54.1%.

When putting these numbers alongside the number of listings, the mismatch becomes evident. Gate operates the broadest product shelf in the market, with 405 trading codes, but cleared only $148.5 billion, about 4.7% of the trading volume; while Binance cleared $1.59 trillion with just 179 trading codes. Bitget's 302 listings brought in $238.2 billion, Bybit's 224 brought in $105.2 billion, OKX's 168 brought in $345.1 billion, and Hyperliquid's 161 brought in $542.8 billion.

3. Assets: Trading volume follows scarce access assets

Source: Rootdata

Looking at what people are actually trading, a consistent pattern emerges: around semiconductors, leveraged tech products, crypto-sensitive stocks, commodities, and private companies. SanDisk(SNDK), SOXL ETF(SOXL), SK Hynix(SKHYNIX), Micron(MU), and SpaceX(SPCX) are at the top of the expanded snapshot.

RootData's earlier Binance snapshot showed that gold(XAU) has a daily trading volume of $1.79 billion, SK Hynix(SKHYNIX) $1.61 billion, and SpaceX(SPCX) $1.17 billion. They each meet different demands: gold(XAU) provides continuous macro exposure, SK Hynix(SKHYNIX) is the cleanest way to trade the AI memory cycle around the clock, while SpaceX(SPCX) opens a door that most investors cannot access through traditional channels at all.

The clearest signal in the data is that when the tokenized market addresses an access issue or opens a trading window that previously did not exist, it gains attraction. For example, SK Hynix could only trade in the Korean market before listing in the U.S. through ADR. Replicating highly liquid U.S. stocks is ineffective, as traditional brokers have already met that demand in a low-cost and high-quality manner.

This points the best opportunities toward private companies, Asian stocks, commodities, and thematic baskets, where the access gaps are real. The structure still warrants attention, as the rights conferred to holders by perpetual contracts, synthetic tokens, and legally supported stock tokens are quite different.

The standout leaders will combine inaccessible asset access, credible legal claims, and liquidity deep enough to be trusted.

4. Next steps

Overall, the data from issuers, trading venues, and assets indicates that competition in the tokenized asset market is shifting from expanding product catalogs to showcasing real usage and liquidity.

Similarly, on the asset side, those difficult-to-trade private companies, Asian stocks, commodities, and thematic products in traditional financial markets offer investors a clear reason to utilize the crypto market. Assets that are already easily and cost-effectively obtainable through traditional brokers are unlikely to attract sufficient on-chain demand merely by replication.

This year, the industry has expanded the potential of tokenized assets by bringing a wide range of products to market. The coming year will reveal which products and platforms can generate repeated trading and sustainable liquidity. Companies that combine access to hard-to-obtain assets with credible legal rights, reliable operational structures, and sufficient liquidity to absorb real orders will lead market growth.