Fragmentation in RWA generates losses in billions in tokenized markets.

• Fragmentation in RWA increases costs and reduces returns.
• Price differences between blockchains put pressure on investors.
• Ethereum and Polygon account for the largest volume of RWAs.

Fragmentation across different blockchains is imposing a high cost on the tokenized risk-weighted asset (RWA) market. A recent study by the analytics platform RWAio indicates that operational inefficiencies generated by this dispersion consume between US$600 million and US$1,3 billion per year, directly impacting the profitability of investors and issuers.

The report was compiled using data from 17 companies in the financial and cryptocurrency sectors, including Coinbase, Franklin Templeton, and Polygon. According to RWAio, the distribution of identical assets across multiple networks creates significant friction along value chains, resulting in additional fees, slippage, and price discrepancies between parallel markets.

According to the survey, the total value of tokenized real-world assets already exceeds US$36 billion. This amount includes instruments such as private credit, US Treasury bonds, and commodities, which are being progressively integrated into blockchain infrastructure to gain operational efficiency and greater accessibility.

Despite this growth, research indicates that identical RWA assets are often traded with price differences ranging from 1% to 3%, depending on the blockchain used. Furthermore, transferring these assets between different networks generates an estimated additional cost of between 2% and 5% per transaction, considering fees and liquidity impacts. These factors reduce the effective return for investors and increase operational complexity.

The data also shows a significant concentration in certain networks. Ethereum accounts for approximately 52% of the total value of tokenized risk-weighted assets, consolidating its position as the main platform for this type of issuance. Polygon leads the specific segment of tokenized securities, with approximately 62% market share, highlighting the functional specialization among blockchains.

For RWAio, this market division among multiple infrastructures reinforces the interoperability challenges faced by the sector. As traditional financial instruments move to on-chain environments, the lack of standardization and the need for transposition between networks become points of concern for institutional participants.

The study highlights that the expansion of RWAs depends not only on increased tokenization but also on reducing these frictions. Price efficiency, decreased movement costs, and improved integration between blockchains appear as key factors to sustain market growth and increase the attractiveness of real-world tokenized assets.