RWA Market Hits $51 Billion as Private Credit Takes the Lead

The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market reached $51 billion in May 2026, up 42% since the start of the year. Bernstein Research published the data in a report seen by Cointelegraph. Private credit has taken the top position by volume for the first time, moving ahead of tokenized US Treasury debt.

Bernstein Counts Wider Than Competitors

The $51 billion figure from Bernstein sits well above the $34 billion counted by aggregator RWA.xyz. The gap comes from methodology: Bernstein includes assets structured through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and hybrid models where part of the data sits off-chain. Most analytics providers before 2025 skipped these positions because they are hard to track automatically.

Bernstein explains in the report that its methodology evolved alongside the market. So part of the gap between $34 billion and $51 billion reflects a sharper count of already-existing assets, not just new capital flowing in. Even adjusting for that, growth holds up across real volumes on the main platforms.

The market breaks down as follows: private credit holds 44%, US Treasuries about 30%, and commodities another 14%. The rest is made up of derivatives, equities, and other asset classes.

Figure Technology Solutions Leads the Platforms

Figure Technology Solutions ranks first among tokenized RWA platforms with $18 billion in assets. The company uses blockchain for loan origination and settlement, cutting traditional bank intermediaries out of the chain. Since the start of 2026, Figure has tokenized $5 billion in consumer loans on-chain. In April, monthly loan volume hit a record $1.3 billion.

The company's internal marketplace Connect, where lenders and borrowers interact directly, handled 56% of total loan volumes in the first quarter of 2026. Securitize and Paxos follow in second and third place with roughly $4.2 billion each. These platforms cover a broader mix: Treasuries, commodities, and corporate equities.

Figure focuses almost entirely on private credit, which explains its lead in that segment. Securitize and Paxos compete in tokenized government debt and alternative assets, where the market is more spread out.

Treasuries Remain the Second Largest Segment

Tokenized US Treasury debt was the first major institutional win in the RWA space. BlackRock's BUIDL money market fund on Ethereum passed $2.5 billion in assets under management and showed that large financial firms are willing to build products directly on-chain. But Treasury yields remain relatively modest.

Private credit filled the gap. Loans are issued outside the banking system, funding comes from investors directly, deals are recorded on-chain, and interest payments flow through smart contracts. For pension funds and family offices, this mix of yield and transparency turned out to be more attractive than standard Treasuries.

Bernstein also flags a fast-growing segment: RWA derivatives through Hyperliquid. Open interest in RWA derivatives on the platform hit $2.6 billion in May, and trading volumes reached $65 billion in April 2026.

Blockchain as Core Financial Infrastructure

Stobox co-founder Ross Shemeliak commented on the Bernstein data for Cointelegraph. He said the real news is not that private credit ranked first.

"The bigger story is not whether private credit is number one today. The real story is that blockchain is quietly becoming the infrastructure layer for global capital markets."

- Ross Shemeliak, co-founder of Stobox, comment to Cointelegraph, May 2026

Shemeliak also pointed out that RWA tracking methods changed significantly over the past year. Platforms that ran analytics earlier often missed private credit structures running through SPVs or hybrid models. That gap is closing now, giving a clearer picture of the actual market size.

The RWA market is growing across three tracks at once: private credit, Treasuries, and derivatives. What happens after $51 billion will depend on how fast Securitize and Paxos can scale their segments alongside the dominant Figure.