Are Crypto Exchanges Abandoning Meme Coins for Tokenized Assets?

Tokenized assets became the most-listed category across major centralized exchanges in the first half of 2026.  Nearly 1 in 5 new listings fell into the group.

CryptoRank noted that 2026 marked the first year tokenized real-world assets became the fastest-growing listing category, a break from the meme coins or GameFi tokens that led earlier cycles.

How Tokenized Assets Took Over CEX Listings

CryptoRank tracked 10,110 listings and 4,005 delistings across 10 major exchanges. Centralized platforms still handle more than 88% of crypto trading volume.

Tokenized assets accounted for nearly 19% of new listings in H1 2026. That share sat below 7% throughout 2025. Most growth stemmed from a few issuers, including xStocks, bStocks, and Ondo.

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🚀 Tokenized Assets became the most-listed category in H1 2026Nearly 1 in 5 tokens listed on CEXs in H1 2026 was a tokenized asset. By contrast, in 2025, less than 7% of listings were tokenized assets.The surge was driven primarily by tokenized stocks from issuers such as… https://t.co/QyNuvtNpLu pic.twitter.com/o7WS3OarRk

— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) July 11, 2026

Tokenized stocks have gained notable traction this year. A BeInCrypto report found that on-chain stocks reached about $1.85 billion in value, up 28.6% over 30 days. That pace is nearly 40 times faster than that of tokenized US Treasuries.

Monthly transfer volume in stock tokens climbed 87% to $8.76 billion. Holders grew 24.5% to more than 443,000.

Speculative Tokens Fall Out of Favor

Meanwhile, the speculative end of the market lost ground. Meme coin listings dropped for six straight quarters. Exchanges listed 196 meme coins in Q4 2024 but only 41 in Q2 2026.

That marks a 79% decline and the lowest total since Q3 2023. GameFi followed a similar path. New listings there fell 84% from their Q2 2024 peak to just 15 in Q2.

Delistings tell the same story. Gate removed 573 tokens in H1 2026, nearly 60% of the total. In Q2 alone, it cut 221 tokens, more than the total across all tracked exchanges combined.

By contrast, OKX delisted no tokens during the first half of the year. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) led all removals with 207, followed by GameFi at 141 and meme coins at 98.

Overall listings fell to 351 in Q2 2026, the lowest since Q3 2023. Delistings exceeded new listings in only two quarters since 2024, Q2 2025 and Q2 2026.

The pattern points to a more selective market. Exchanges now favor projects tied to real usage over speculation. Whether tokenized assets keep that lead through the next cycle is now the central question.

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