Standard Chartered Sees Chainlink Soaring to $200 by 2030 Amid Tokenization Boom

Standard Chartered's digital assets research team has made several bold predictions about the future of decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenized real-world assets. According to their forecast, Chainlink's LINK token could reach $200 by 2030 as tokenization adoption accelerates on public blockchains.

The bank projects that tokenized assets will reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, split roughly evenly between stablecoins and real-world assets like bonds and investment funds. This growth is expected to be driven by DeFi's expansion, with the total value locked in DeFi growing 37 times over to reach $2.7 trillion by 2030.

Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) plays a crucial role in facilitating communication and asset transfer between different blockchains. The protocol has already achieved significant transaction volumes, reaching approximately $18 billion in Q1 2026. Chainlink's partnerships with major financial institutions further reinforce its positioning in the tokenization stack.

While Standard Chartered's forecasts carry weight due to their global reach and exposure to the tokenization trend, they also come with caveats. The $200 LINK figure depends on a chain of assumptions holding simultaneously, including tokenization adoption accelerating on schedule, CCIP maintaining its competitive position, fee structures remaining favorable, and regulatory clarity emerging in major markets.