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RWA perpetual futures volume nears Bitcoin on Hyperliquid, Binance
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- DeepHorus
Real-world asset (RWA) perpetual futures have surged to within striking distance of Bitcoin perpetuals on two major trading venues. Combined seven-day volume across tracked RWA perps reached $61.7 billion, equal to 99.2% of Bitcoin perpetual volume on Hyperliquid and Binance, according to data provider Talos. This marks a notable shift as tokenized stocks and commodities gain traction among crypto traders.
The data snapshot taken Thursday shows tokenized equity contracts accounted for 57.8% of the total, followed by commodities at 28.2%. The value of onchain RWAs has grown to about $36.8 billion excluding stablecoins, according to RWA.xyz. Crypto exchanges have increasingly listed tokenized stocks and commodities alongside digital assets, broadening the market's scope.
Hyperliquid, one of the leading venues, recorded $25.1 billion in RWA perpetual trading volume during the week of July 13-19. That figure exceeded the combined volume of all other perpetual categories on its platform. Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a July 24 X post that growing RWA trading on Hyperliquid signals crypto markets moving "away from speculating on endogenous digital commodities."
Early data for the current week suggests the trend is continuing. RWA perpetual trading volume has already reached $37.2 billion, exceeding Bitcoin perpetual volume by about 9%, per Talos' dashboard. Equity-linked contracts contributed $22.8 billion, while commodities added $9.1 billion and indexes $4.2 billion. ETFs contributed about $338 million, with foreign exchange, pre-IPO and other contracts making up the remainder.
The growth has drawn attention from traditional finance. Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, whose company owns the New York Stock Exchange, recently urged regulators to create a "level playing field" for 24/7 onchain perpetual futures. He argued that existing market structures should not prevent blockchain-based trading from developing.
Despite the rapid expansion, RWA perpetuals remain a relatively small segment of the broader crypto derivatives market. Talos' data shows aggregate futures trading volume of about $821.4 billion over the past seven days, with tracked RWA perps accounting for roughly 7.5% of the total. Pantera Capital earlier in July said perpetual futures could become a dominant trading instrument beyond crypto, citing advantages such as 24/7 trading, no contract expiries and continuous price discovery.
