RWA perpetuals open interest nears $20 billion, CryptoRank data shows

Open interest in real-world asset perpetual futures has climbed to approximately $20 billion, according to tracking data from CryptoRank. That figure, recorded as of October 26, 2026, represents a 192% increase since June of the same year. Traders, it turns out, have discovered they can lever up on gold and equities without ever leaving the crypto app. What the numbers show A quick primer first. A perpetual future, or “perp,” is a derivative contract that lets traders bet on an asset’s price with leverage and no expiry date. Open interest measures the total value of those contracts still outstanding. Think of it as the size of the bets currently on the table, not the number of chips that changed hands today. RWA perps apply that structure to tokenized versions of traditional assets. According to the research, that includes equities, commodities and indices. The pace of growth stands out. CryptoRank’s data puts RWA perpetual open interest at $9.3 billion in August 2026. By late October, the figure was approaching $20 billion. That is more than a doubling in roughly two months. The more telling metric may be market share. RWA contracts made up 6% of total perpetual open interest at t...