RWA Becomes the Leading Web3 Sector as DeFi Loses Momentum, According to Report

TL;DR: 

• Sector preference: 29% of applicant startups focus on real-world assets (RWA) and tokenization, surpassing the 23% registered by DeFi protocols and 11% by decentralized artificial intelligence. 
• Institutional backing: 92% of surveyed venture capital funds selected RWA as their primary investment segment, leaving stablecoins and DeFi tied with 77% support. 
• Commercial maturity: 44% of the startups evaluated in the sample already generate steady operating revenue, and 7% of the projects report net financial profitability.

Real-world assets in blockchain environments have displaced traditional decentralized finance. A new sector report published this Tuesday reveals that RWA becomes the leading Web3 sector after capturing the majority of startup applications and venture capital during the first half of 2026.

The technical document titled “The State of Web3 Capital 2026”, prepared by the specialized firm Proof of Talk, analyzes aggregated data from more than 200 startups that applied to the Proof of Pitch 2026 program. The research findings suggest that the intentions of digital infrastructure creators are decisively oriented toward the on-chain migration of credit markets, traditional financial instruments, and global payment platforms.

After this year’s Proof of Talk, we examined the state of Web3 capital.

Together with our Strategic Communications Partner @INPUT_global , we analyzed more than 200 startup applications from Proof of Pitch 2026, alongside an exclusive survey of 13 Web3 VC funds and public market… pic.twitter.com/5TiOSZ5shz

— Proof of Talk (@proofoftalk) June 30, 2026

This trend is directly replicated in the behavior of corporate liquidity providers. The Proof of Talk report reveals that 12 out of the 13 Web3 investment funds consulted explicitly prioritize RWA-focused financing, representing a 92% dominance within that institutional panel.

Transformation in funding structures and startup maturity

Corporate financing schemes also show a significant evolution toward conventional financial practices. Data collected in the study indicate that only 5% of entrepreneurs seek funding exclusively through the issuance of native tokens, while 83% of applications prefer business structures backed by some form of equity or traditional shareholding.

This approach reduces the risks associated with the volatility of crypto assets circulating in open markets. Proof of Talk analysts suggest that this behavior responds to a macroeconomic environment where public token sales showed a marked weakening, projecting toward their worst quarterly performance in the last five years.

The composition of the business ecosystem reflects greater organizational solidity compared to past bull runs. According to the metrics presented in the report, 89% of the studied group is formally located in the initial phases of equity financing, known as pre-seed or seed stages.

However, despite being in the early stages of institutional development, nearly half of these projects have verifiable monetary flows. The official balance of the market research points to an accelerated strategic convergence between what technical teams decide to build on networks and the specific financial products that venture capital investors are willing to back with their resources during the 2026 economic cycle.