CoinDesk
RWA perpetual futures traded $347 billion in volume in May, a 1,472x increase from the $230 million booked at the start of 2025, according to Martin Lee, markets insight lead at DWF Labs. By the end of May, exchanges had facilitated $1.32 trillion in RWA perp volume, 13x the entire 2025 total. Daily open interest on DEXs alone hit a new high of $4.5 billion in July, and RWA perps now account for 31% of all on-chain perp volume, up from 1.3% at the start of the year.
Why it matters
The growth rate is the real story. Lee frames perps as crypto's second major export to traditional finance, after tokenization, and argues the product is winning on mechanics. RWA perps run 24/7, letting traders react to events after TradFi venues close: the Iran conflict moved oil perps on Hyperliquid before CME reopened. They also strip out the expiry dates, greeks, and complex interfaces that push most retail away from futures and options, while preserving the speculative upside. BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton have tokenized assets worth more than $34 billion, excluding $300 billion in tokenized dollars, but Lee argues perps scale faster because launching a new perp market is operationally trivial compared to the legal and structural lift of issuing a tokenized security.
Market impact
Perps are now compounding faster than the spot tokenized markets they sit on top of. Tokenized equity wallets hit 180,845 against just 24,378 for equity perps, but perp holders are growing at roughly 33% a month versus 17% for tokenized spot. The price discovery edge is already visible: when Cerebras listed on Nasdaq in May, Hyperliquid's pre-IPO perp had the stock priced at $354, within about 1% of its $350 open, and far tighter than the $185 IPO price set the night before. Robinhood is already offering RWA perps to European customers, and Lee expects the model to spread to other retail brokerages once the regulatory scaffolding firms up.
Frequently asked questions
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What are RWA perps and how do they differ from tokenized assets?
RWA perps are perpetual futures contracts settled on-chain that track the price of real-world assets like commodities, equities, or pre-IPO stocks. Unlike tokenized assets, which require issuing a legal token backed by the underlying, perps are synthetic and can be launched in days without the legal scaffolding.
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How fast has RWA perp volume grown on DEXs?
RWA perps traded $347 billion in volume in May, a 1,472x increase from the $230 million booked at the start of 2025. By the end of May, cumulative exchange volume had reached $1.32 trillion, 13x the full-year 2025 total.
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Why do traders prefer perps over tokenized spot for RWAs?
Perps run 24/7 with no expiry dates, no greeks, and simpler interfaces, letting traders react to events after TradFi markets close. The Iran conflict moved oil perps on Hyperliquid before CME reopened, a timing advantage spot markets cannot match.
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How accurate are pre-IPO perp markets compared to IPO pricing?
Hyperliquid's pre-IPO perp had Cerebras priced at $354 the night before its Nasdaq listing, within roughly 1% of the $350 opening price. That was far more accurate than the $185 IPO price set the night before, suggesting perps deliver better price discovery for private companies.
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Which crypto platforms are leading in RWA perps?
Hyperliquid is the most cited venue, with RWA perps like pre-IPO and equity contracts dominating volume. Tokenized spot, by contrast, is led by traditional asset managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton, which have tokenized more than $34 billion in assets.
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