Binance Research finds TradFi perpetual futures tied to stocks such as Tesla and Apple grew tenfold since January, capturing 28% of total crypto futures volume in July. Younger investors show less appetite for leveraged tokenized-stock products than older traders, even as BNB, the dominant tokenized-ETF chain, and Solana both slide this year.
TradFi perpetual futures covering stocks such as Tesla and Apple held a 28.3% share of crypto futures trading in July, according to Binance Research. That builds on a pattern of relatively higher investor demand for TradFi perps than for regular tokenized real-world assets.
Trading volumes in TradFi perps rose from $80 billion to $691 billion since January – about 10x growth in 2026. Total crypto futures volume across top exchanges, meanwhile, eased slightly from $2.95 trillion to $2.44 trillion over the same period.
Overall, TradFi perps now hold a 28% share of total crypto futures volume. Binance Research's analysts attributed the shift to two factors: capital migration and hedging demand. The trend also fits a broader 2026 pattern across prediction markets and perpetual futures, both driven by leverage and speculative interest.
Younger investors show less appetite for leveraged tokenized stocks
Regular tokenized stocks without leverage haven't matched that pace. The RWA segment posted only 3.2% month-on-month growth.
Tokenized stocks climbed from about $700 million to $2.3 billion over the past seven months, an increase of over 3x. Holders of tokenized stocks also crossed the 1 million mark for the first time.
Yet Binance Research found tokenized stocks without leverage have emerged as more appealing to informed younger investors. Gen Z's exposure to leveraged tokenized ETFs stands at only 5.9% of their total trading volume. Millennials and older generations, by contrast, seemed to have 7-8% leveraged exposure.
Binance Research contrasted that finding with the common assumption that young, first-time investors trade more aggressively. The cohort most associated with risk-seeking behavior allocates the smallest share of its activity to leveraged instruments, per the report.
BNB and Solana slide despite tokenization gains
BNB Chain has emerged as the dominant chain in the tokenized ETFs segment. Despite that dominance, BNB's price has declined 32% in 2026.
Solana, another key player in tokenization, has seen its native token drop 42% this year. Whether it's too early for the tokenization boom to lift token prices remains unclear.
Source: AMBCrypto
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