Standard Chartered Sees Chainlink Reaching $200 as Tokenized Assets Surge Toward $4 Trillion

By Lidia Yadlos

Standard Chartered believes the tokenization boom could turn Chainlink into one of crypto's biggest infrastructure winners.

The bank has initiated coverage of the oracle network with a $200 price target by the end of 2030, arguing that growing demand for tokenized assets will significantly increase the need for trusted data, cross-chain interoperability and onchain compliance. Standard Chartered expects the tokenized asset market to reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, creating what it sees as a major long-term opportunity for Chainlink's infrastructure.

If the forecast proves accurate, LINK would rise more than 25-fold from its current price of around $8, making it one of the most bullish long-term price targets issued by a major financial institution for a crypto infrastructure project.

Infrastructure Could Become Chainlink's Biggest Advantage

Standard Chartered's forecast isn't based on LINK becoming a more popular cryptocurrency. Instead, it reflects the bank's view that tokenized financial markets will require infrastructure capable of connecting blockchains with real-world information.

Every tokenized Treasury, stock, money market fund or private credit product needs reliable pricing, proof that the underlying asset exists, secure communication between blockchain networks and systems that support regulatory compliance. As institutions bring more assets onchain, Standard Chartered believes demand for those services will grow alongside the market itself.

That is where Chainlink fits in. According to the report, Chainlink's decentralized oracle network and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) already provide many of the core services institutions are expected to need, including external data feeds, cross-chain messaging and secure connectivity between different blockchain ecosystems.

The bank also forecasts that tokenized and crypto-native assets deployed across decentralized finance will grow 37-fold, reaching approximately $2.7 trillion by 2030. If institutional assets increasingly move into DeFi, Standard Chartered expects that expansion to drive greater usage of Chainlink's infrastructure and higher fee generation across the network.

Wall Street's Tokenization Bet Is Growing

Standard Chartered isn't alone in betting that tokenized assets will become one of finance's fastest-growing markets. Recent forecasts and onchain activity all point in the same direction:

• Citigroup estimates tokenization could become a $5.5 trillion market by 2030, with a bullish scenario exceeding $8 trillion .
• Boston Consulting Group and Ripple project the market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033 , driven by institutional adoption across equities, private credit, funds and fixed income.
• CryptoRank reported that tokenized real-world asset trading on decentralized exchanges climbed to a record $141 billion in July , up 19.5% from the previous month as tokenized equities gained traction.
• CoinShares and Token Terminal found deposits of tokenized real-world assets across DeFi lending platforms more than tripled over the past year to $7.4 billion , even as broader DeFi deposits declined.
• Asset managers including BlackRock , Franklin Templeton , Apollo , Securitize and Ondo Finance continue expanding tokenized investment products, signaling that institutional adoption is already underway.

Chainlink Already Powers Much of DeFi

Unlike many blockchain projects still waiting for institutional adoption, Chainlink already secures a significant portion of today's decentralized finance ecosystem.

The Opportunity Depends on Adoption

Standard Chartered's forecast ultimately depends on tokenization continuing to expand across global financial markets. Slower institutional adoption, increased competition from other oracle providers or technical setbacks could all weigh on Chainlink's long-term outlook.

Even so, the bank's thesis is clear: if trillions of dollars in traditional assets move onchain over the next decade, the infrastructure connecting those assets to blockchain networks could become just as valuable as the assets themselves.

Published on Blockster

Standard Chartered Sees Chainlink Reaching $200 as Tokenized Assets Surge Toward $4 Trillion