Real-world assets top DEXs to become 5th-largest category in DeFi by TVL

RWA protocols have overtaken decentralized exchanges by total value locked, as tokenized Treasurys, private credit, and commodities become core onchain building blocks.

Real-world asset (RWA) protocols have been one of decentralized finance’s (DeFi’s) clear winners in 2025, overtaking decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to become the fifth-largest category by total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama. 

RWAs now account for around $17 billion in TVL, up from roughly $12 billion in Q4 2024, highlighting how quickly tokenized Treasurys, private credit, and other real-world claims have moved from niche experiment to core DeFi plumbing. As DefiLlama noted, “At the start of this year, they weren’t even in the top 10 categories.” 

Vincent Liu, the chief investment officer at Kronos Research, told Cointelegraph that RWA growth is being driven by “balance-sheet incentives rather than experimentation,” with higher-for-longer rates making tokenized Treasurys and private credit attractive as on-chain, yield-bearing assets, as improving regulatory clarity lowers friction for institutional allocators.

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