The tokenized real-world assets (RWA) market is experiencing an acceleration phase, and its future growth could be much larger than current estimates. This was stated by Plume co-founder and CEO Chris Yin. According to him, the industry is on the verge of its largest expansion—and already in 2026 it could grow 3–5 times.
RWA goes beyond experiments
According to Chris Yin, the tokenized real-world assets market can grow far beyond the current $35 billion.
Asset tokenization no longer looks like a niche story for crypto-native hedge funds and traders. According to RWA.xyz, the volume of tokenized assets already exceeds $35 billion, with more than 539,000 holders.
Chris Yin is confident that this is just the beginning. He expects that:
- the total value of RWA will multiply, greatly exceeding current figures
- the number of holders will increase tenfold
- in an optimal scenario, a 25x spike is possible if demand shifts to institutional investors
Yin emphasizes: tokenization is no longer limited to treasury bonds. Falling rates and the search for yield are pushing investors to look at new assets.
Alternative categories take the stage
According to the head of Plume, the market is already seeing significant growth in segments such as:
- private lending
- minerals
- energy contracts
- computing power and GPU
- other alternative assets
Yin believes that the transition of RWA from “one asset class” to a multisector direction will be the key growth point in 2025–2026.
Regulations accelerate RWA’s move to practical use
Another catalyst is legislation. The US and other countries are actively working on a regulatory framework for stablecoins and tokenized instruments. Once the legal infrastructure is in place, RWAs will be able to move from test models to full-fledged financial products—with access for banks, fintech companies, and institutional funds.
‘We expect that by 2026, demand will finally shift to blockchain,’ says Yin.
Plume enters strategic partnership with Securitize
Plume announced a partnership with Securitize—one of the largest tokenization platforms, backed by BlackRock and Morgan Stanley. Securitize will place its institutional assets on the Plume Nest protocol, which allows investors to:
- trade tokenized securities
- earn yield
- move assets within the RWA ecosystem
The first product will be Hamilton Lane funds. In 2026, new asset classes will be added to them.
Plume is the largest RWA network by number of users
Today, Plume has almost 280,000 RWA holders—about half of all users in the sector. Although the network is not in the top 10 by tokenized asset volume, it dominates in participant numbers. The total RWA volume in the network is $200 million, but Yin considers this figure secondary:
‘The main metric is active users. And by this, Plume is the healthiest RWA setup.’
What’s next for the RWA market?
If Plume’s forecast comes true, the tokenized assets market will become one of the fastest-growing areas of blockchain in the next two years. RWA growth could be comparable to early DeFi and the first NFT cycles.
The sector stands on three key points:
- institutionalization of RWA through Securitize and other major players
- emergence of new assets and yield growth
- launch of a legal framework in the US and Europe
As a result, RWA could move from a ‘crypto project for advanced users’ to a mass financial instrument that unites traditional markets and blockchain.
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