RWA and DeFi Convergence Drives New Financial Paradigm

HTX Research has released a report that examines the growth of tokenized assets and DeFi, revealing a convergence of two separate tracks into one financial loop. The report highlights how asset tokenization and DeFi cash-flow valuation point to the same industry transition: from 'asset existence' to 'asset utility', and from 'protocol usage' to 'protocol profitability'. 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, indicating that traditional financial assets can be effectively mapped onchain.

However, despite this growth, RWA remains a small slice of the global bond, equity, gold, and credit markets. The report proposes new metrics to judge the market, 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.

The report also notes that a 'scale-activity inversion' exists in the onchain utilization of assets. The largest categories often show low utilization, while smaller ones have higher proportions deployed in DeFi protocols. This is attributed to four constraints: compliant transfer restrictions, discontinuous redemption cycles, immature pricing and risk models, and legal recourse offchain.

The report suggests that TVL logic should give way to profit logic, focusing on whether the transmission chain from protocol activity to token value is complete. Aave is cited as an example of this shift, with real borrowing demand, interest income, and observable fee structures. The report concludes that onchain finance is forming a three-layer structure: compliant stablecoins, tokenized Treasuries, and protocols handling lending, trading, rates, risk, and leverage.