As of 2026, Ethereum hosts the largest share of tokenized real-world assets by value, with its lower-cost layer-2 networks - led by Base - and chains like Polygon and others growing quickly. Ethereum's dominance comes from its security, deep liquidity, and the fact that the biggest issuers chose it first. For an investor, the chain mostly determines transaction costs, speed, and which wallets work - not the quality of the underlying asset. It is worth understanding, but it should rarely be the deciding factor in whether to invest.

Why Ethereum leads

The largest tokenized funds - including major institutional Treasury products - launched on Ethereum, so the bulk of RWA value lives there. Ethereum offers the strongest security track record, the deepest pool of on-chain capital, and the most mature tooling, which is exactly what conservative institutions want for serious assets.

The cost of that security is higher gas fees - the price of each transaction - which matters more for small, frequent transactions than for a buy-and-hold RWA position.

The role of Layer 2s and other chains

To cut costs while keeping Ethereum's security, much activity has moved to layer-2 networks.

Base and similar layer-2s settle to Ethereum but offer far lower fees, making them attractive for retail-scale RWA investing. Other standalone chains - Polygon, Stellar, Solana, and more - host specific products too; some tokenized funds chose them for speed or cost. The result is a multi-chain landscape where the same issuer may offer a product on several networks.

Does the chain matter to you?

For most investors, less than the marketing implies. The chain affects three practical things: the gas fee you pay per transaction, how fast transfers settle, and which wallets and platforms support it. It does not change the legal claim, the custody, or the quality of the asset behind the token - those come from the structure, not the network.

So treat the chain as a convenience factor. A lower-fee network is nicer for small or frequent transactions; a widely-supported one is easier to use. But a great asset on a pricier chain beats a weak one on a cheap chain every time.

The chains in numbers

A few concrete facts flesh out the landscape. Ethereum mainnet still holds the largest share of distributed RWA value, because the biggest institutional funds - BlackRock's BUIDL among them - launched there. But the field is genuinely multi-chain: Franklin Templeton's BENJI started on Stellar in 2021 and later expanded to Polygon, Avalanche, Base, and others; Solana hosts fast-growing products like Backed's xStocks and several Ondo offerings; and Ethereum layer-2s such as Base and Arbitrum carry a rising share of retail-scale activity.

One case shows why a chain ranking depends on what you measure. Figure's enormous tokenized private-credit book runs on Provenance, a purpose-built blockchain of its own rather than Ethereum - so a ranking by represented asset value can look very different from a ranking by the number of products or by distributed on-chain value. The takeaway for you is unchanged: the chain decides your fees, speed, and wallet support, not the asset's quality. But it is worth knowing that "which chain leads" has no single answer - it depends on whether you count value, products, or institutions.

What to actually check

Confirm the chain is supported by your wallet and the platform, understand the typical gas fee for buying and redeeming (especially if your position is small), and note whether the token exists on multiple chains, which can affect where you can move or sell it. Beyond that, keep your focus on the asset and the structure. If the concept of a layer-2 is new, what a Layer 2 is explains it from scratch.

Where to go next

• Next: how to review an RWA platform.
• The basics: what a Layer 2 is.
• Glossary: Ethereum.

Sources: rwa.xyz; chain and issuer disclosures, as of 2026.