Standard Chartered Sees $4T Tokenized Assets by 2028
Standard Chartered says tokenized assets could reach $4T by end-2028 on blockchain networks, with a 50/50 split: $2T in stablecoins and $2T in tokenized RWAs (on-chain government bonds, money-market funds, and equities).
The bank points to the US CLARITY Act as the near-term catalyst for faster migration from TradFi rails to on-chain settlement. It argues that mature DeFi protocols, not traditional custodians, should capture most inflows thanks to “composability” — one asset can earn yield, serve as collateral, and stay liquid on the same ledger.
To support scale, the note cites BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury product BUIDL, reported at about $2.5B AUM as of April 2026, with daily yield paid to investor wallets.
For crypto traders, this is a bullish narrative catalyst for tokenized assets, stablecoins, and DeFi liquidity, but the numbers are forecasts rather than confirmed flow data.
Bullish
Standard Chartered’s $4T by 2028 tokenized assets projection, split into stablecoins and RWAs, reinforces a market-wide “on-chain finance” growth narrative. The US CLARITY Act is treated as a near-term regulatory catalyst, which can quickly lift risk appetite for tokenized asset infrastructure.
Short-term, traders may rotate toward DeFi-linked liquidity and lending themes (and the assets underpinning them) on expectations of easier on-chain settlement and larger institutional participation. Long-term, “composability” implies better capital efficiency versus off-chain setups, supporting sustained demand for DeFi collateral/yield strategies.
However, this is still a forecast and not confirmed capital inflows. Any countervailing headlines—DeFi smart-contract risk, custody/regulatory friction, or slower stablecoin adoption—could cap upside.