Tokenized real-world assets (RWA) are expected to reach $50 billion to $60 billion in 2026, according to a report from blockchain oracle platform RedStone.
The market has already grown from $5 billion at the end of 2023 to more than $35 billion today, with financial institutions increasingly interested in on-chain private credit, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and tokenized equities. Private credit is currently the largest category at around $19 billion and is expected to account for around 45-50% of the RWA market next year, according to the report.
However, tokenized stocks are expected to grow the fastest, with growth of 200-300% expected after US regulatory rules become clearer in mid-2026. Strong growth is also expected in the current $8.4 billion of tokenized U.S. Treasuries, including BlackRock’s $2.5 billion BUIDL fund.
Still, RedStone analysts emphasized that this growth depends on reliable infrastructure.
“Tokenization of RWA creates unprecedented data challenges. Traditional cryptocurrency price feeds are updated every few seconds based on liquid DEX markets and CEX order books,” says the report, authored by RedStone co-founder Marcin Kazmierczak. “Tokenized private credit requires NAV calculations for illiquid assets, illiquidity adjustments, third-party valuation verification, and compliance-grade audit trails.”
Other predictions
RedStone also predicts that AI agents will become the primary users of on-chain data by 2026, with the AI agent market reaching more than $15 billion.
“AI agents do not sleep, do not panic, and work across dozens of chains simultaneously,” Kazmierczak wrote. “They need sub-millisecond latencies, multi-chain data availability, confidence intervals for advanced risk management, and most importantly, zero mispricing tolerance.”
Furthermore, the total amount locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) is expected to increase from $124 billion currently to $150 billion to $200 billion in 2026, but only platforms with strong oracles and risk oversight will attract institutional capital, the report notes.
RedStone says the success of any protocol will depend on the quality of the infrastructure. The company cited the Oct. 10 flash crash, in which $20 billion was liquidated in 24 hours, to illustrate how vulnerable some of its systems are.
