Why Don't Tokenized Markets Behave Like Their Underlyings?
Dune's September 30 report finds more than $34B of tokenised RWAs onchain, but the markets do not simply mirror traditional finance. Cash barely trades, equities dominate activity, credit is heterogeneous and commodities split between gold spot and synthetic oil exposure.
TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- ✓Scale: Tokenised RWAs exceeded $34B in Dune's tracked universe.
- ✓Activity: Equities were about 8% of value but 93% of onchain trading.
- ✓Cash: Nearly $18B of cash equivalents mostly sits rather than trades.
- ✓Lesson: Each asset class needs its own liquidity and use-case metrics.
A Large RWA Market Can Still Be Mostly Inactive
Dune's September 30 report puts tracked tokenised real-world assets above $34 billion, up 141% in the year to August. But the post-issuance view is more useful than the headline: much of the value sits in products that are held for yield or settlement rather than traded repeatedly.
That is not necessarily a failure. A cash-equivalent token can be doing its job as a stable store of value or collateral without generating a high transfer count. The mistake is calling every dollar of supply “liquidity.”
Dune finds that tokenised markets often diverge from the traditional assets they reference.
— Dune report, September 30, 2026
The right benchmark is therefore use-case fit, not traditional-market symmetry.
Equities Trade; Cash Equivalents Mostly Sit
Dune reports that tokenised equities were roughly 8% of tracked value but generated 93% of onchain trading. Single-name exposure and perpetual contracts attract active positioning, while cash-equivalent products are held for carry and settlement.
That split explains why one market-wide turnover ratio is misleading. A fund issuer should compare itself with products serving the same function, not with a high-velocity equity venue.
Our perpetual-volume analysis covers why derivative activity must be reported separately from spot ownership.
Credit and Commodities Split Into Different Rails
Onchain credit yields range from roughly 3% to 13%, and about one-fifth of the tracked credit is posted as DeFi collateral. That is a different use pattern from traditional collateral markets, where short-dated bills remain the main reference.
Commodities show another split: tokenised commodities reached about $5.5 billion, almost entirely gold, while oil exposure is primarily synthetic through perpetuals. The token and the derivative are not interchangeable claims.
A tokenised commodity market can contain physical redemption, fund exposure and synthetic price exposure at the same time.
— Dune, After Issuance: Reading the Onchain RWA Market
Product labels should make that legal and economic distinction visible.
Build Metrics Around the Product's Job
- Cash products: holders, redemptions, collateral use and settlement reliability.
- Equities: spreads, active addresses, spot turnover and derivative open interest.
- Credit: underwriting, defaults, yield dispersion and collateral haircuts.
- Commodities: redemption, inventory, reference price and synthetic exposure.
Dune's report makes the market more credible by showing that tokenisation creates several distinct micro-markets, not one blockchain version of traditional finance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Dune's September 30 report find?
Dune reported more than $34B of tokenised RWA value, but found that activity and investor behaviour often differ from the traditional assets being referenced.
Which asset class trades most onchain?
Tokenised equities represented about 8% of the tracked market but accounted for 93% of onchain trading in the report.
Why does tokenised cash barely trade?
Cash-equivalent products are mostly short-dated Treasury exposures used for holding yield, settlement and collateral rather than frequent secondary trading.
What role do perpetuals play?
Perpetuals provide price exposure and leverage without transferring the underlying asset, so their volume should be separated from spot token ownership.
Does the report invalidate tokenisation?
No. It shows that each asset class needs its own liquidity, custody and use-case metrics instead of one market-wide growth headline.