Reality of RWA tokenization in 2026: Only one asset class is ready for prime time

US Treasuries are the only tokenized real-world asset class to reach production-grade maturity, according to new research from BeInCrypto.

The report, Real State of Tokenization in 2026, tracked roughly $60 billion in tokenized real-world assets across more than 7,000 products and 12 asset classes. It found a market that is growing quickly, but remains uneven, restricted, and heavily concentrated.

Treasuries stand apart. Tokenized US Treasury debt reached about $15 billion across 100 assets, with 16 products holding more than $100 million each. The category is also 99% distributed, meaning most Treasury tokens can move on public blockchain rails rather than sitting inside closed internal ledgers.

That makes Treasuries the clearest institutional use case in tokenization. Major products include Circle’s USYC, Ondo’s USDY, Franklin Templeton’s iBENJI, and WisdomTree’s WTGXX.

Most of the market is still closed off

However, access remains one of the market’s biggest problems.

The report found that 97% of tokenized asset value sits outside US retail reach. Only about $1.7 billion, or 3% of the core market, is accessible to US retail investors through 1940 Act structures.

A much larger share remains locked behind private institutional channels, offshore frameworks, accredited-investor rules, or unclear regulatory structures.

Figure’s private HELOC channel alone accounts for $18.3 billion, or 31% of the market. US Regulation S products, which exclude US persons, account for another $7 billion. Offshore and non-US frameworks represent $13.8 billion.

The report also found that 39% of market value has no identifiable regulatory framework when Figure’s HELOC business is included in the unreported tier.

Five assets dominate tier 1, the rest is a long tail of mid-size positions. Source: BeInCrypto Research

Tokenization is growing, but unevenly

Other asset classes remain less mature.

Asset-backed credit is the largest category at $23.7 billion, but it is dominated by Figure’s HELOC business and only 10% is distributed. 

Commodities reached $8.3 billion, led by tokenized gold and Justoken’s commodity products. Tokenized stocks grew fast, but many products provide synthetic price exposure rather than actual share ownership.

Real estate, once viewed as a major tokenization use case, remains small at about $457 million and declined year-to-date.

The findings show that tokenization has moved into institutional finance, but usable access remains narrow. The next phase depends on whether infrastructure can make more assets transferable, regulated, and available to a wider investor base.

The full BeInCrypto Research report is available here.