Tokenized Assets Struggle With Liquidity, Study Finds

Research highlights structural barriers preventing wider adoption of real-world asset tokenization.

Mar. 23, 2026 at 2:33pm

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A new study from Macquarie University suggests that liquidity remains a critical bottleneck to the wider adoption of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The research analyzed the ten largest RWA tokens and found most exhibited low trading volumes relative to their size, with liquidity concentrated in a small subset of assets like gold-backed tokens. Structural barriers including regulatory design, lack of decentralized trading venues, and absence of dedicated market makers were cited as key factors limiting liquidity.

Why it matters

Tokenization has long been touted as a way to make illiquid assets like real estate and private credit more tradable through secondary markets. However, this study indicates that the promise of improved liquidity has not yet been realized, potentially limiting the broader adoption of tokenized assets.

The details

The study analyzed on-chain data from RWA.xyz, which tracks around $25 billion of RWAs across public blockchains. It found that most of the ten largest RWA tokens, which were primarily US government bond or money market funds, had just a few dozen active on-chain holders and only a handful of monthly transfers, equivalent to just a few trades per day. In contrast, gold-backed tokens like Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) exhibited much stronger liquidity, with thousands of on-chain holders and active monthly addresses, due to their presence across both centralized and decentralized trading venues.

  • The study analyzed data as of July 2025.

The players

Macquarie University

An Australian public research university that conducted the study on tokenized real-world assets.

RWA.xyz

A platform that tracks around $25 billion of tokenized real-world assets across public blockchains.

BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund platform (BUIDL)

A $1.8 billion tokenized money market fund that exhibited low trading activity, with just 85 on-chain holders, 30 active addresses, and 104 monthly transfers as of July 2025.

Pax Gold (PAXG)

A gold-backed token issued by Paxos that had over 1,000 times more on-chain holders than BUIDL, with 50,140 holders, 5,678 monthly active addresses, and 52,140 monthly transfers in July 2025.

Tether Gold (XAUT)

Another gold-backed token that exhibited stronger liquidity than most RWA tokens, with 9,407 on-chain holders, 2,735 monthly active addresses, and 23,897 monthly transfers in July 2025.

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The takeaway

While tokenization promises to improve liquidity and access to illiquid assets, this study suggests the market structure needed to support robust trading of tokenized real-world assets has yet to fully develop. Overcoming structural barriers around fragmented trading venues, limited price discovery, and the absence of dedicated market makers will be crucial for unlocking the full potential of tokenized assets.