Tokenized real-world assets could surge to $2tn within three years, according to Standard Chartered, which expects blockchain versions of funds, bonds, and equities to become a core part of institutional finance by 2028.
Standard Chartered Sees Tokenized Assets Hitting $2tn by 2028
30 October 2025 - 17:40 CET
By Stu Clelland
Tokenized finance takes shape
In a research note, Geoff Kendrick, Head of Digital Assets Research at the bank, forecast a more than 50-fold rise in the market for tokenized assets, excluding stablecoins, from today’s $35bn.
Kendrick expects the $2tn total to be split roughly evenly between tokenized money-market funds and listed equities, each accounting for about $750bn. Another $250bn would come from tokenized investment funds, while the remaining $250bn would include less-liquid segments such as private equity, corporate debt, and real estate.
He warned that the most significant risk to a self-sustaining cycle of decentralized finance remains uncertainty over US regulation.
Stablecoins and Ethereum lead the charge
Data from rwa.xyz shows that the value of tokenized real-world assets has already doubled since January to $35.5bn, led by private credit products and tokenized US Treasuries. The total capitalization of all stablecoins, led by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, has meanwhile reached around $300bn, up 50% since the start of the year.
“For years, we’ve assumed DeFi would eventually grow large enough to disrupt traditional finance,” Kendrick wrote. “We think the 2025 stablecoin boom is the start of that disruption.”
He added that the majority of future growth in tokenized assets is likely to occur on Ethereum, describing it as “the most trusted” blockchain among Wall Street institutions.
