Tokenized real-world assets reached $34.5 billion in value in August 2026, up more than 140% from a year earlier, according to a report from data analytics firm Dune. Yet the same figures show that trading activity on-chain increasingly does not mirror the behavior of the traditional assets the tokens represent — a split that matters because the headline total alone says little about how tokenized assets are actually being used.

According to Dune's findings, cash equivalents accounted for nearly $18 billion of the market, making them the largest token asset class — although most of those assets remain inactive. Equities, by contrast, represented only about 8% of the market's value but generated 93% of on-chain trading activity. In practice, that means much of the market's value sits in assets that are held rather than traded, while trading activity concentrates in a class accounting for a far smaller share of value.

The divergence was particularly evident within tokenized equities themselves. Single stocks accounted for 81% of tokenized equity supply, compared with 19% for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), suggesting that investors active on-chain show a stronger preference for individual companies than for diversified funds.

Binance's Tokenized U.S. Stocks Pass $1 Billion in AUM

That appetite for round-the-clock access to U.S. securities has been on display on Binance. In an X (Twitter) post published on August 25, 2026, BitKE highlighted the rapid growth of bStocks, tokenized 1:1 U.S. securities on Binance that trade 24/7:

Direct stocks on Binance Reached $1 Billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) Within 30 Days of Launch #bStocks, tokenized 1:1 U.S. securities on Binance that trade 24/7, crossed $100 million in AUM within 2 weeks of launch. 47% of bStocks trading volume takes place outside U.S. market hours, reflecting #demand for round-the-clock market access. Details: #Tokenisation
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) August 25, 2026

Per the figures shared in the post, bStocks crossed $100 million in assets under management (AUM) within two weeks of launch and reached $1 billion in AUM within 30 days. The post also noted that 47% of bStocks trading volume takes place outside U.S. market hours, reflecting demand for continuous market access. The original post is available at: https://x.com/BitcoinKE/status/2092141004384051568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The bStocks numbers track with Dune's broader finding: tokenized equities are a small slice of on-chain value but dominate on-chain trading, with nearly half of Binance's tokenized-stock volume occurring outside U.S. market hours.

Market Size Versus Actual Usage

The findings highlight a growing distinction between the size of the tokenized asset market and how those assets are actually being used. Dune said the four major asset classes — cash equivalents, credit, commodities, and equities — had grown 141% over the year to August 2026. The gap is worth keeping in mind when reading that headline growth rate: an expanding total can reflect tokens held rather than traded, while trading volume can be driven by a much smaller pool of assets.

Tokenized Equities Remain a Fraction of Traditional Markets

The tokenized equity market remains small compared with traditional financial markets. Binance Research estimated its value at $4.43 billion as of September 15, 2026 — equivalent to just 0.0029% of the $151.9 trillion global listed-equity market. The comparison underscores how early the sector remains: tokenized equities are still a sliver of the listed-equity universe they aim to mirror.

U.S. regulators and financial exchanges are nevertheless moving to expand tokenized trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September 2026 granted a temporary exemption allowing limited on-chain trading of tokenized U.S.-listed stocks. Separately, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Blockchain.com have announced plans for a digital trading platform offering tokenized stocks and ETFs, subject to regulatory approval. Both steps remain provisional — the exemption is temporary and the platform awaits approval — making regulatory decisions on the exemption and the proposed exchange the key items to watch as tokenized trading develops in the United States.

An Emerging Market Developing Its Own Patterns

Taken together, the data suggests tokenization is moving beyond simply putting traditional assets on a blockchain. The emerging market is developing its own patterns of liquidity, asset selection, and trading activity, raising questions about how closely on-chain markets will ultimately track the traditional financial markets they are designed to replicate.