RWA futures volume jumps 142-fold after crypto’s $19B wipeout

Real-world asset futures trading has climbed from $760 million to $107.6 billion in nine months as commodities, equities and pre-IPO contracts have taken a larger share of on-chain derivatives activity.

RWA futures have matched crypto trading volume

OKX and Token Terminal said in a joint report that the change followed the Oct. 10, 2025 liquidation event, when more than $19 billion in leveraged crypto futures positions were wiped out across 1.6 million accounts.

The one-day total was about nine times larger than the previous record, according to the report. Bitcoin, Ether and Solana futures lost part of their share after the sell-off, while contracts linked to commodities, public companies and private firms attracted more trading activity.

Nine months later, total open interest across the futures market had moved above its October level, although the assets supporting that recovery had changed. Open interest measures the value of contracts that remain active and can help distinguish sustained positioning from volume created by positions that traders open and close quickly.

Monthly RWA futures volume increased from $760 million in October to $107.6 billion in July, a 142-fold rise. Crypto futures recorded $105.7 billion during July, placing the two categories at roughly the same scale for the first time in the period covered by the report.

“A single day in October 2025 reset trading in crypto [futures] contracts,” the report said, adding that growth in RWA contracts came from oil, silver, semiconductor, memory-chip and pre-IPO markets rather than the crypto cycle.

While Bitcoin, Ether and Solana remained major futures markets, the data showed that the recovery in sector-wide open interest did not simply restore the market mix that existed before the liquidation event. Contracts tied to assets outside crypto supplied a growing portion of the activity.

Oil and chip contracts have followed real-world events

Trading patterns also differed by the type of asset referenced in each contract, according to OKX and Token Terminal. Instead of moving mainly with Bitcoin or other crypto assets, several RWA futures markets reacted to news affecting their underlying commodities and companies.

Following strikes on Iran, daily volume in a West Texas Intermediate oil contract increased 149-fold within nine days. The report tied the move to the repricing of oil as traders responded to supply concerns and geopolitical risk.

Commodities became the largest RWA futures segment in January and accounted for 70% of category volume in March. Their share later fell to 14% by July as activity moved toward equity-linked contracts.

Semiconductor and memory-related futures led the next change. Monthly volume across four chip and memory names rose from $600 million to $45.3 billion as memory prices increased, according to the report.

By July, equities had become the largest part of the RWA futures category, with semiconductor-linked contracts leading the segment. The change followed an earlier period in late 2025 when index products accounted for the most activity.

Each category gained volume alongside developments in the market it tracked, the researchers said. Oil contracts responded to geopolitical events, while semiconductor contracts drew activity during the memory shortage and related price increases.

“Trading activity increasingly reflects developments in the underlying assets referenced by each contract,” the report said.

Open interest and participant data also indicated that the increase involved positions held beyond brief bursts of trading, according to the researchers. Their findings linked the growth to both the addition of new asset types and liquidity supplied by participants trading outside the main crypto contracts.

Pre-IPO futures have added $10.9B in monthly volume

Private-company contracts supplied another source of growth, with pre-IPO futures reaching $10.9 billion in monthly volume within three months of the first listing.

SpaceX led the category during the period examined by OKX and Token Terminal. Pre-IPO perpetual futures allow traders to take positions linked to a private company’s valuation without purchasing its shares.

As crypto.news reported in June, Coinbase introduced a SpaceX-linked perpetual contract with leverage of up to five times. The product traded around the clock, settled gains and losses in USDC, and was designed to convert into a standard perpetual contract if SpaceX completed a public listing.

Coinbase said the contract provided price exposure rather than equity ownership. Holders received no shares, voting rights or direct claim on the private company, a distinction that also applies to the way investors should assess pre-IPO derivatives against traditional private-market holdings.

The exchange also warned that valuation-based index pricing, limited liquidity and IPO conversion terms could expose traders to sharp price moves and liquidations. At the time of its launch, the product was unavailable in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, India and Australia.

Before SpaceX shares entered public markets, on-chain derivatives had already allowed traders to price the company through synthetic contracts. A July examination found that a SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual market had launched through Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework in May, weeks before the stock existed.

The $10.9 billion monthly figure in the OKX and Token Terminal report showed how quickly such products attracted volume, but the contracts represented price exposure rather than ownership in SpaceX or another private company.

US access has depended on the regulatory structure

For U.S. traders, the growth of RWA futures does not mean every contract counted in the report is available through domestic platforms. Product access depends on where a venue operates, how the contract is structured, and whether the provider has the required regulatory status.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees U.S. derivatives markets, including designated contract markets, clearing organizations and registered intermediaries. In May, CFTC staff issued guidance covering the obligations of regulated entities seeking to offer trading and clearing around the clock.

Coinbase’s SpaceX-linked pre-IPO product illustrated the difference between global availability and U.S. access. Although Coinbase operates in the country, the exchange excluded U.S. users from that specific contract while offering it in supported jurisdictions through Coinbase Advanced.

For American investors, buying a listed stock also differs from opening a perpetual futures position tied to the same company or asset. A share gives its holder an ownership interest in a company, while a cash-settled perpetual contract provides exposure to changes in a reference price and may involve leverage, funding payments, and forced liquidation.

RWA futures can also track several types of underlying markets, including oil, silver, stock indices, individual companies and private-company valuations. The OKX and Token Terminal data grouped those contracts by the assets they referenced, showing how category leadership moved from indices to commodities and later to equities during the nine-month period.

By July, commodity contracts represented 14% of RWA futures volume after controlling 70% in March. Equity contracts had taken the top position as trading in semiconductor and memory names rose to $45.3 billion, while pre-IPO markets had reached $10.9 billion within their first three months.