Only 12% of Tokenized Assets Meet DeFi Standards

The market size of tokenized assets has reached $37 billion this year, but only 12% of these assets are actually used in decentralized finance (DeFi). According to the 'Tokenization Snapshot 2026' report released by Centrifuge, only 12% of the 542 tokenized assets met the DeFi integration criteria, with an average score of 2.04 out of 5. The score for the issuance and redemption sector was the lowest at 1.82. While on-chain issuance of assets has increased, participation in the financial market remains limited. 77.6% of the evaluated assets were in the form of wrappers that moved existing financial products to the blockchain, while native assets accounted for only 2.7%. According to reports from CoinShares and Token Terminal, the amount of real assets deposited in the lending market and decentralized exchanges increased from $2.3 billion to $7.4 billion over the past year. However, total DeFi deposits have decreased by about 15%. Centrifuge plans to enhance the accessibility and mobility of tokenized assets through integration with LI.FI and Para. The 'Tokenization Outlook 2026' identified regulatory and compliance issues (44%) and liquidity (32%) as bottlenecks for the expansion of tokenization. The 12% figure should be interpreted with caution, as the DeFi integration criteria vary based on various factors, including asset issuance, custody, redemption, and transfer restrictions.