Arbitrum Poised to Outperform Bitcoin and Ether Through 2030: Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered's research suggests that Arbitrum could outperform Bitcoin and Ether through 2030, citing the network's revenue mechanics as a key driver of growth. According to Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, Arbitrum receives 10% of net protocol revenue generated by businesses building on the network.

Kendrick pointed to Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 initiative tied to the online brokerage Robinhood, as an early test case for how tokenization-focused applications could shift Arbitrum's financial profile. The impact has already been visible in the network's revenue run rate, with Standard Chartered expecting $5 million in revenue in September.

The bank's forecast assumes that tokenized real-world assets will continue to grow, reaching $4 trillion by 2030. Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum are positioned as infrastructure providers, capturing recurring value from tokenization deployments. This could support a multi-year rise in ARB, potentially reaching $10 by 2030.

However, Kendrick highlighted risks that could derail the bank's price framework, including a slower-than-expected pace of asset tokenization and increased competition from alternate blockchains.