Ondo (ONDO) creates an interesting paradox. The price of the token has fallen by more than 80 percent from its all-time high. At the same time, the Total Value Locked (TVL) has reached a new record.
This development raises questions about the true potential of the project. At the same time, industry leaders expect a positive development in the area of tokenization in 2026.
Ondo price collapses sharply after token release
Ondo is a protocol in the field of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) that focuses on the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). The protocol provides users access to traditional financial products. These include U.S. Treasury bonds, credit funds, and tokenized stocks on the blockchain.
Data from BeInCrypto regarding the price shows that ONDO has fallen from a high of over 2.1 USD to approximately 0.35 USD. This corresponds to a decline of more than 80 percent. Also, at the beginning of 2026, ONDO set new lows and has shown no signs of recovery so far.
The negative price trend may have been triggered by selling pressure following a token release. Ondo unlocked 1.94 billion tokens on January 18. This amount corresponded to 57.23 percent of the issued supply.
The rapid increase in circulating supply has heightened selling pressure and raised concerns among investors. Since the release, ONDO has dropped another 10 percent.
Ondo's January paradox: Is the project undervalued?
However, data from Token Terminal shows that the area of tokenized stocks continues to grow significantly. The total value of all tokenized stocks reached a new all-time high of 441.2 million USD. Ondo Finance leads the sector with a market share of 54.4 percent.
The charts show that the market capitalization for tokenized stocks has risen significantly since September of last year. This occurred even though the overall crypto market tended to decline during the same period.
The data suggests that while many retail investors are withdrawing money, companies are still investing in tokenized stocks.
Moreover, the TVL of Ondo increased significantly in January. According to DefiLlama, it was above 2.5 billion USD for the first time.
TVL stands for the total value of assets that users lock into a protocol. This value indicates user participation and trust. The interplay of declining prices and increasing capital inflow leads analysts to suspect that Ondo is undervalued. Often, sentiment and emotions drive prices, causing retail investors to overlook the fundamentals.
"The current fear in the markets is a blessing in disguise, especially for projects like Ondo," said investor Kyren.
This paradox becomes even clearer since tokenization was the main theme at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026. Globally, executives expressed optimism about the development of asset tokenization. They refer to it as a bridge between traditional financial markets and DeFi.
Data from crypto exchanges also show that despite the declining prices, many whale investors view the pullback as an opportunity.
Data from CryptoQuant on average order size in the spot market shows that in recent months, large whale orders have predominated. These are shown in green on the chart.
The pattern indicates that ONDO may experience a strong recovery once the selling pressure from the token releases decreases and market fear subsides.
