Tokenized Treasury Market Hits $14.6B as CEX Volumes Contract
What happened: The market for tokenized U.
What happened: The market for tokenized U.S. Treasuries reached $14.6 billion, up from under $1 billion in early 2024, while centralized exchange (CEX) spot and derivatives volumes fell over 11% to $4.61 trillion—the lowest since late 2024. BlackRock's BUIDL fund now holds $2.42 billion in assets, and the firm has filed for two additional tokenized funds. The broader tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has grown 589% since early 2025.
Why it matters: The rapid growth of tokenized treasuries signals increasing institutional adoption of on-chain finance, even as traditional crypto trading activity wanes. While some exchange executives argue the CEX volume drop is cyclical, others see a structural shift as Wall Street and crypto infrastructure converge. The divergence in tracker estimates ($14.6B vs $15.3B) underscores the sector's rapid evolution and data challenges.
Source: CoinDesk