Crypto Market Shifts from Asset Existence to Asset Utility
The crypto market is undergoing a significant shift from 'asset existence' to 'asset utility,' according to HTX Research's latest report.
The report, titled From Asset Tokenization to Cash-Flow Tokenization: RWA and DeFi Enter the Second Half of Programmable Finance, examines the growth of tokenized assets and DeFi cash-flow valuation.
The market size of tokenized assets excluding stablecoins has grown from less than $3 billion in mid-2024 to surpass $30 billion in April 2026. However, this still represents a small slice of the global bond, equity, gold, and credit markets, which measure in trillions.
HTX Research notes that onchain issuance, holding, and settlement have been demonstrated, but large-scale composability, credit creation, and secondary liquidity have not. As such, metrics used to judge the market need to change, shifting from tokenized asset size, issuance counts, and holder numbers to utilization rates, turnover, collateral ratios, borrowing demand, real yield, default handling, secondary market depth, and protocol revenue.