BlackRock highlights Ethereum’s dominance amid rapid growth of rival chains in tokenisation

According to BlackRock’s 2026 thematic outlook, more than 65% of tokenised assets worldwide are recorded on the Ethereum mainnet, cementing the network’s role as the dominant settlement and issuance layer for financial products moved onto blockchains. The asset manager frames Ethereum as the preferred backbone for institutions pursuing tokenisation, citing its security profile and deep on‑chain liquidity as decisive advantages even as alternatives emerge.

Institutional interest in real‑world assets onchain has shifted from pilot programmes to operational deployments. Industry observers note that fund managers and custodians favour Ethereum for transaction finality and a broad pool of counterparties, despite ongoing debates about transaction fees and scaling. According to the Gate summary of BlackRock’s report, the firm sees Ethereum as central to fee payments and settlement within tokenisation workflows.

Market metrics present a nuanced picture. Ethereum’s decentralised finance footprint remains substantial, with third‑party analyses showing a multi‑billion dollar total value locked that far exceeds most rivals. For instance, block‑level comparisons published in October 2025 put Ethereum’s TVL in the region of $81–83 billion, while Solana’s TVL was reported near $12 billion and Polygon’s around $1.2–1.5 billion, illustrating a big lead in economic activity on Ethereum‑anchored protocols.

At the same time, competing chains are recording rapid expansion in specific niches. Cointelegraph reports Solana’s tokenised asset stock rose by roughly 140.6% in 2025 to more than $418 million, lifting the network to fourth place by tokenisation market share that year. Other analyses place Solana’s RWA growth even higher , Analytics Insight estimated a 218% rise in 2025, taking Solana’s RWA ecosystem to about $550 million , underscoring the appetite for high‑throughput, low‑cost platforms among certain issuers and developers.

Not all datasets align on absolute shares. CoinGecko’s Q3 2024 industry report recorded an 18.1% fall in Ethereum’s DeFi TVL and a market‑share dip to about 64.8%, while separate mid‑2025 tallies have at times shown Ethereum controlling a substantially larger slice of the tokenisation market. These divergences reflect differing definitions and cut‑offs , for example whether one counts bridging activity, layer‑2 settlements, or only assets issued natively on a base layer , and they highlight that headline percentages can vary with methodology.

Price action in the ether market has been distinct from the network’s institutional traction. After a period of volatility earlier in January, technical indicators point to consolidation around the high‑two‑thousands, with near‑term support referenced by market technicians in the $2,800–$2,900 range. Traders continue to weigh short‑term momentum against the structural growth of on‑chain finance, a divide that industry participants say may mute correlation between ETH’s market price and its utilitarian role in tokenisation.

As tokenisation scales, the ecosystem is likely to remain multichain in practice even if Ethereum retains primacy for large institutional issuance. Industry data shows that blockchains optimised for speed and low costs are capturing niche flows and developer activity, while Ethereum’s incumbency and liquidity make it the default for settlement, custody and large‑ticket transactions. According to the various reports, that combination explains why major asset managers are opting to anchor tokenised products on Ethereum even as alternative architectures gain traction.