Standard Chartered's digital assets research team projects $4 trillion in tokenized assets on public blockchains by the end of 2028, a forecast now fueling a $200-by-2030 price target for Chainlink's LINK token circulating in the market. The bank's analyst set explicit 2030 price targets for AAVE and UNI, but not a standalone figure for LINK.
Tokenized assets on public blockchains will reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, the bank's digital assets research team projects, split roughly evenly between stablecoins and real-world assets such as bonds and investment funds. That tokenization forecast has fed a $200-by-2030 target for LINK now circulating among traders, even though the bank never published that number directly.
Where the $200 figure actually comes from
Analyst Geoffrey Kendrick is behind the specific price targets tied to the thesis. His 2030 targets include $3,500 for AAVE and $100 for UNI, both framed as beneficiaries of DeFi's expansion. He also projects total value locked in DeFi will grow 37 times over to reach $2.7 trillion by 2030. The $200 LINK figure appears to stem from secondary interpretations of Chainlink's role in that broader tokenization stack, rather than a number Kendrick explicitly published as a standalone LINK forecast.
Why Chainlink keeps surfacing in the tokenization case
Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, known as CCIP, lets separate blockchains communicate and transfer assets without each network operating as an isolated silo. In Q1 2026, CCIP transaction volumes reached approximately $18 billion. The protocol has also run cross-border pilots with Standard Chartered itself and worked alongside the Central Bank of Brazil on tokenization initiatives.
The practical case for LINK's value rests on oracle and interoperability services typically earning fees proportional to the value of assets they secure or route. As tokenized asset volumes scale, so does the economic throughput moving through Chainlink's network, along with the fee capture potential that comes with it.
What has to hold for the target to work
Standard Chartered's forecasts carry weight because the bank is not a crypto-native firm — it has direct exposure to tokenization through its own custody and digital asset operations. But the $200 LINK figure, to the extent it reflects extrapolation from Chainlink's share of a $4 trillion tokenized ecosystem, depends on several assumptions holding at once: tokenization adoption accelerating on schedule, CCIP holding its competitive position against rival interoperability protocols, fee structures staying favorable, and regulatory clarity emerging in major markets.
For LINK, the question is whether Chainlink's first-mover advantage in oracle services and its growing CCIP footprint turn into durable competitive moats as the tokenization market scales. The $18 billion in Q1 2026 CCIP volume suggests the protocol is capturing real throughput.
Source: Crypto Briefing
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
