TradFi perps up 10x in 2026, capturing 28% of crypto futures volume: Binance

TradFi perps continue to see relatively higher investor demand compared to regular tokenized assets (RWA). 

According to Binance Research, trading volumes of TradFi perps or derivatives of traditional markets covering Tesla [TSLA] and Apple [AAPL] had a 28.3% market share in July. 

Since January, the TradFi perps volumes have increased from $80B to $691B – About 10x growth in 2026. Over the same period, total crypto futures volume across top exchanges eased slightly from $2.95T to $2.44T. 

Overall, this meant that TradFi perps were now at 28% market share of crypto futures.  

Binance Research’s analysts also noted that the growth has been driven by two factors: Capital migration and hedging demand. 

One category expanding while the other cools is the signature of an asset-class migration, not an ordinary volume cycle.

By extension, this also fits a broader trend among top narratives in 2026 from prediction markets to perpetual futures (perps). They are driven by leverage and massive speculative interest. 

Younger investors prefer tokenized stocks over TradFi perps

On the contrary, regular tokenized stocks have not seen a stronger appetite compared to TradFi perps. The RWA segment posted only a 3.2% month-on-month (MoM) growth.

In particular, tokenized stocks jumped from about $700M to $2.3B in the last seven months. This hinted at an over 3x expansion. Holders have also crossed the 1 million-mark for the first time.

Worth noting, however, that Binance Research found that tokenized stocks without leverage have emerged to be more appealing to informed younger investors. 

In fact, Gen Z’s exposure to leveraged tokenized ETFs is only 5.9% of their total trading volumes. In contrast, millennials and older generations seemed to have a higher percentage of 7-8% leveraged exposure.  

The prevailing assumption about young, first-time investors is that they trade aggressively and speculatively. The cohort most associated with risk-seeking behavior allocates the smallest proportion of its activity to leveraged instruments.

That said, the initial projection that the tokenization boom would boost tokens of blockchains seeing massive adoption seemed far-fetched, at least at the time of writing. 

Notably, BNB Chain emerged as a key dominant chain in the tokenized ETFs segment. Despite being among the top chains with massive market share in tokenized assets, BNB’s price has declined by 32% in 2026. 

Solana, another key player in the sector, has seen its native token SOL drop by 42% this year. Whether it is too early for the tokenization boom to begin reflecting on the token’s value is unclear. 

Final Summary

• TradFi perps’ market share grew to 28% in July amid strong appetite for leveraged exposure to the U.S stock market. 
• While being perceived as the most aggressive risk-takers, younger investors prefer tokenized assets over leveraged alternatives.