RWA issuers find distribution by getting their token accepted where capital already sits: DeFi treasuries that allocate stablecoin reserves, exchanges that take it as collateral, and apps on the chains where it is issued. Most tokenised value has not reached that stage: $39.22 billion is distributed against $258.90 billion represented (RWA.xyz, 14 October 2026).
What does distribution mean for a tokenised asset?
It means the token can leave the issuer's platform. RWA.xyz splits the market in two. Distributed assets "can be moved to wallets outside the issuing platform and transferred between wallets", including tokens with whitelists. Represented assets cannot, by design or because of regulation (RWA.xyz, 21 November 2025).
On 14 October 2026, distributed value was $39.22 billion and represented value was $258.90 billion, so about 13% of tracked tokenised assets could move on chain (our arithmetic from RWA.xyz). The same dashboard counted 5,244,617 asset holders.
A represented asset uses the chain as a record. A distributed asset can be held as collateral, deposited in a vault or listed in a wallet. Only the second kind can be sold through the channels below.
How concentrated is demand today?
Very. Tokenised US Treasury funds show the pattern clearly. On 14 October 2026, RWA.xyz tracked $14.90 billion across 117 products and 86,611 holders (RWA.xyz Treasuries). The five largest products held $9.84 billion of it, or 66%:
| Product | Distributed value, 14 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Circle USYC | $2.38 billion |
| Ondo USDY | $2.35 billion |
| BlackRock BUIDL | $2.16 billion |
| iBENJI | $1.71 billion |
| WisdomTree WTGXX | $1.23 billion |
By our arithmetic, that is an average of about 740 holders per product and about $172,000 per holder. Averages hide a long tail: the other 112 products share the remaining 34%. A new issuer enters a market where a few large allocators decide which products grow.
Which channels move the most capital?
Three channels have moved large amounts, and each answers to a different buyer.
| Channel | What the buyer wants | Dated example | What to prepare |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeFi treasury allocators | Yield on stablecoin reserves with fast redemption | Spark reviewed 39 proposals and allocated $1 billion: $500 million to BUIDL, $300 million to Superstate's USTB, $200 million to Centrifuge's JTRSY. It then added another $1 billion in the same split (Decrypt, 6 May 2025) | Price feed, redemption terms, on-chain liquidity, a governance proposal |
| Exchanges taking collateral | Yield-bearing margin for institutional traders | Crypto.com and Deribit accepted BUIDL as collateral on 18 June 2025 (Securitize). Binance added it as off-exchange collateral on 14 November 2025 (Cointelegraph) | Custodian integration, transfer controls, price history for haircuts |
| Apps on a new chain | A yield asset for their users | A new BUIDL share class planned for BNB Chain, announced with the Binance listing (Cointelegraph, 14 November 2025) | Chain deployment, bridge or native issuance, app integrations |
Allocation programs are the fastest of the three. One governance decision can place hundreds of millions of dollars, and the winners in Spark's case won a second round. A collateral listing puts the token in front of every institutional trader on the venue.
What do allocators check before they buy?
Ask these questions of your own product before you pitch:
- Can the token move? Confirm which wallets can hold it, and how fast a new wallet gets whitelisted.
- How fast does it redeem? State the cut-off times and settlement days in writing.
- Where does the price come from? Name the oracle or price feed and how often it updates.
- Who holds the asset? Name the custodian, the legal wrapper and the jurisdiction.
- Which chains is it on? List them, plus the chains you plan next and the dates you can commit to.
- Where can a holder exit? Show secondary liquidity, or the redemption path when a pool is thin.
A product that answers all six on one page is ready for an allocator's risk team.
How should an issuer sell into these channels?
Treat each channel as a short account list. A DeFi allocator has a risk team, delegates who vote and a public forum where proposals sit. An exchange has a collateral or risk lead and a listings team. A chain has a business development team that wants yield assets for its apps.
Time the outreach to events on chain. Our catalyst monitor logged 566 TVL moves and 40 new DeFi listings between 26 July and 7 October 2026 (our data, October 2026). A large TVL rise at a stablecoin issuer or lending market means new reserves that need a home. A new listing means a team that is still choosing its first collateral assets.
Issuers of tokenised stocks face the same question with different venues, covered in when stocks trade on chain, who captures the volume.
Decision rule
If your token cannot leave your platform, fix transferability before you sell. If it can, start with allocation programs and governance proposals, then collateral listings, then chain apps. Track the top five products' share each month on RWA.xyz, and price your pitch against the product you most want to displace.
To build the allocator, exchange and chain account list for your asset and rank it for outreach, start with The Diagnostic at $2,500.