Ethereum at 72.6% of tokenized ETFs; DeFi collateral surge
New data highlights Ethereum’s dominance in on-chain finance. Today, roughly 72.6% of all tokenized ETF products sit on Ethereum, reinforcing the network’s role as default settlement infrastructure for institutions.
The broader tokenization market (from tokenized Treasury bills to equity funds) is projected to reach about $16T–$20T by 2030. Ethereum is positioned as the main “rails” for that migration, helped by early programmable blockchain adoption and deep liquidity.
A key driver is developer and market standardization around ERC-20. Wallets, exchanges, and custody providers are already optimized for it, lowering integration risk for traditional finance.
Notable examples cited include Franklin Templeton’s BENJI token: it previously launched on Stellar, then moved operations to Ethereum in 2023—an operational shift for a manager handling hundreds of billions in legacy assets. Ondo Finance is also highlighted, reporting over $600M in tokenized equities under management and more than $9B in cumulative trading volume for its products as of early 2026.
The DeFi angle matters for traders: tokenized ETFs on Ethereum are increasingly accepted as collateral in DeFi lending and trading protocols. That can turn a tokenized Treasury ETF into a composable building block—usable for posting collateral, borrowing, or structured-product workflows within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The 72.6% figure may also include some Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 deployments, depending on methodology.
Bullish
This is broadly bullish for ETH-linked trading because Ethereum’s 72.6% share of tokenized ETFs signals entrenched infrastructure demand. When tokenized ETFs on Ethereum become standard collateral in DeFi lending/trading, they can increase on-chain activity, liquidity, and potential leverage/positioning flows tied to ETH and Ethereum ecosystem liquidity.
In the short term, traders may respond with optimism around ETH as “the settlement layer,” especially if tokenization announcements or collateral integrations accelerate. In the medium term, the ERC-20 standard’s network effects and institutional migration path can support more predictable inflows to Ethereum-based custody and issuance rails.
Long term, the $16T–$20T tokenization projection creates a structural tailwind: more real-world assets tokenized typically means more on-chain rails usage. A parallel can be drawn to earlier institutional liquidity shifts—when a dominant standard and liquidity pool attract incumbents, it tends to concentrate activity. However, if Layer 2 metrics are reclassified or other chains compete aggressively on costs, share gains could moderate. Overall, the directionality favors Ethereum and ETH as the primary execution environment for tokenized ETF growth.