On July 31, 2026, Martin Lee, Market Insights Lead at DWF Labs, stressed the fast growth of perpetual contracts that use real assets such as commodities and equities. He states that perps will overtake tokenization as the main way to access and trade real assets in both crypto and conventional finance.
Key facts:
- More than $34 billion in assets have been tokenized, with another $300 billion in tokenized assets not counted here.
- Perpetual RWA trading volume reached $347 billion in May 2026—a huge increase from $230 million in early 2025.
- Daily open interest on DEXs reached $4.5 billion in July 2026.
- Total exchange-based perpetual RWA volume hit $1.32 trillion by May 2026, 13 times the full total of 2025.
- The share of perpetual RWAs in on-chain perpetual volume rose from 1.3% at the start of 2026 to 31% by mid-year.
- Perpetual contracts run 24/7, unlike traditional futures and options that trade only during set hours and include expiry dates.
Why it matters:
Perpetual contracts give traders continuous market access and remove the limit of expiry dates. This means traders get real-time price data and can manage risk at any moment. The quick rise of perpetual RWAs shows a change in how both big and small investors enter the market. Liquidity grows, and market flow gets smoother. This change in blockchain finance mixes digital trading with assets like commodities, equities, and private shares.
Background:
Tokenization was the first way to join crypto with traditional finance. Firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton turned assets digital. Yet, tokenizing new assets takes legal and operational time, which slows progress. In contrast, perpetual markets start faster and allow the creation of synthetic markets such as pre-IPO trading. For example, Hyperliquid’s perpetual pre-IPO market tracked Cerebras’ Nasdaq price during its IPO in May 2026. As perp RWAs grow, platforms like Robinhood now provide access to these products for European clients. DWF Labs continues to act as a key market maker and investor in these areas.
Real-world assets are physical or standard financial items such as commodities, equities, bonds, or real estate. They are represented on blockchain platforms through tokenization or derivative contracts.
