86% of real world asset perp volume now trades onchain

A year ago, onchain platforms handled a third or less of all real-world asset perpetual futures volume. In August 2026, they handled 86%. According to an analysis from a16z crypto published on September 23, onchain venues processed roughly $101 billion of the $117.3 billion in total RWA perp volume last month. Centralized exchanges picked up the remaining $16 billion. The numbers behind the shift Total monthly RWA perp volume hit $117.3 billion in August 2026. That represents a 44x increase compared to the same month a year prior. Open interest tells an equally dramatic story. By the end of August, open interest in RWA perpetual futures stood at $4.8 billion. In July 2025, that figure was $161 million. So roughly a 30x expansion in just over a year. The composition of what’s actually being traded has shifted meaningfully, too. Equities now represent 48% of trading volume across RWA perps, while commodities account for 28% and indices make up 18%. Earlier periods skewed heavily toward commodities, making this a structural pivot rather than a seasonal blip. How the infrastructure caught up The a16z analysis points to specific infrastructure upgrades that made this growth possible, mo...