Actual-world asset futures buying and selling has climbed from $760 million to $107.6 billion in 9 months as commodities, equities and pre-IPO contracts have taken a bigger share of on-chain derivatives exercise.
RWA futures have matched crypto buying and selling quantity
OKX and Token Terminal stated in a joint report that the change adopted the Oct. 10, 2025 liquidation occasion, when greater than $19 billion in leveraged crypto futures positions have been worn out throughout 1.6 million accounts.
The one-day whole was about 9 instances bigger than the earlier report, in line with the report. Bitcoin, Ether and Solana futures misplaced a part of their share after the sell-off, whereas contracts linked to commodities, public corporations and personal companies attracted extra buying and selling exercise.
9 months later, whole open curiosity throughout the futures market had moved above its October stage, though the belongings supporting that restoration had modified. Open curiosity measures the worth of contracts that stay lively and will help distinguish sustained positioning from quantity created by positions that merchants open and shut shortly.
Month-to-month RWA futures quantity elevated from $760 million in October to $107.6 billion in July, a 142-fold rise. Crypto futures recorded $105.7 billion throughout July, putting the 2 classes at roughly the identical scale for the primary time within the interval lined by the report.
“A single day in October 2025 reset buying and selling in crypto [futures] contracts,” the report stated, including that development in RWA contracts got here from oil, silver, semiconductor, memory-chip and pre-IPO markets somewhat than the crypto cycle.
Whereas Bitcoin, Ether and Solana remained main futures markets, the information confirmed that the restoration in sector-wide open curiosity didn’t merely restore the market combine that existed earlier than the liquidation occasion. Contracts tied to belongings outdoors crypto provided a rising portion of the exercise.
Oil and chip contracts have adopted real-world occasions
Buying and selling patterns additionally differed by the kind of asset referenced in every contract, in line with OKX and Token Terminal. As a substitute of shifting primarily with Bitcoin or different crypto belongings, a number of RWA futures markets reacted to information affecting their underlying commodities and corporations.
Following strikes on Iran, every day quantity in a West Texas Intermediate oil contract elevated 149-fold inside 9 days. The report tied the transfer to the repricing of oil as merchants responded to provide issues and geopolitical danger.
Commodities turned the most important RWA futures phase in January and accounted for 70% of class quantity in March. Their share later fell to 14% by July as exercise moved towards equity-linked contracts.
Semiconductor and memory-related futures led the subsequent change. Month-to-month quantity throughout 4 chip and reminiscence names rose from $600 million to $45.3 billion as reminiscence costs elevated, in line with the report.
By July, equities had turn into the most important a part of the RWA futures class, with semiconductor-linked contracts main the phase. The change adopted an precedent days in late 2025 when index merchandise accounted for essentially the most exercise.
Every class gained quantity alongside developments available in the market it tracked, the researchers stated. Oil contracts responded to geopolitical occasions, whereas semiconductor contracts drew exercise throughout the reminiscence scarcity and associated value will increase.
“Buying and selling exercise more and more displays developments within the underlying belongings referenced by every contract,” the report stated.
Open curiosity and participant information additionally indicated that the rise concerned positions held past transient bursts of buying and selling, in line with the researchers. Their findings linked the expansion to each the addition of latest asset sorts and liquidity provided by members buying and selling outdoors the primary crypto contracts.
Pre-IPO futures have added $10.9B in month-to-month quantity
Non-public-company contracts provided one other supply of development, with pre-IPO futures reaching $10.9 billion in month-to-month quantity inside three months of the primary itemizing.
SpaceX led the class throughout the interval examined by OKX and Token Terminal. Pre-IPO perpetual futures enable merchants to take positions linked to a personal firm’s valuation with out buying its shares.
As crypto.information reported in June, Coinbase launched a SpaceX-linked perpetual contract with leverage of as much as 5 instances. The product traded across the clock, settled beneficial properties and losses in USDC, and was designed to transform into a normal perpetual contract if SpaceX accomplished a public itemizing.
Coinbase stated the contract supplied value publicity somewhat than fairness possession. Holders acquired no shares, voting rights or direct declare on the non-public firm, a distinction that additionally applies to the way in which traders ought to assess pre-IPO derivatives in opposition to conventional private-market holdings.
The change additionally warned that valuation-based index pricing, restricted liquidity and IPO conversion phrases might expose merchants to sharp value strikes and liquidations. On the time of its launch, the product was unavailable in america, Canada, the UK, Singapore, India and Australia.
Earlier than SpaceX shares entered public markets, on-chain derivatives had already allowed merchants to cost the corporate by means of artificial contracts. A July examination discovered {that a} SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual market had launched by means of Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework in Might, weeks earlier than the inventory existed.
The $10.9 billion month-to-month determine within the OKX and Token Terminal report confirmed how shortly such merchandise attracted quantity, however the contracts represented value publicity somewhat than possession in SpaceX or one other non-public firm.
US entry has trusted the regulatory construction
For U.S. merchants, the expansion of RWA futures doesn’t imply each contract counted within the report is accessible by means of home platforms. Product entry is determined by the place a venue operates, how the contract is structured, and whether or not the supplier has the required regulatory standing.
The Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee oversees U.S. derivatives markets, together with designated contract markets, clearing organizations and registered intermediaries. In Might, CFTC employees issued steerage overlaying the obligations of regulated entities in search of to supply buying and selling and clearing across the clock.
Coinbase’s SpaceX-linked pre-IPO product illustrated the distinction between international availability and U.S. entry. Though Coinbase operates within the nation, the change excluded U.S. customers from that particular contract whereas providing it in supported jurisdictions by means of Coinbase Superior.
For American traders, shopping for a listed inventory additionally differs from opening a perpetual futures place tied to the identical firm or asset. A share provides its holder an possession curiosity in an organization, whereas a cash-settled perpetual contract offers publicity to adjustments in a reference value and will contain leverage, funding funds, and compelled liquidation.
RWA futures may observe a number of varieties of underlying markets, together with oil, silver, inventory indices, particular person corporations and private-company valuations. The OKX and Token Terminal information grouped these contracts by the belongings they referenced, exhibiting how class management moved from indices to commodities and later to equities throughout the nine-month interval.
By July, commodity contracts represented 14% of RWA futures quantity after controlling 70% in March. Fairness contracts had taken the highest place as buying and selling in semiconductor and reminiscence names rose to $45.3 billion, whereas pre-IPO markets had reached $10.9 billion inside their first three months.
