Tokenisation will balloon to $2tn despite DeFi turbulence, Standard Chartered says

Tokenisation will skyrocket from $35 billion to $2 trillion by 2028, analysts say.
DeFi, Stablecoins at the heart of the bonanza.

Tokenisation will balloon some 5,600% to be a $2 trillion market by 2028, according to Standard Chartered.

At the heart of the forecast is continued expansion in decentralised finance lending via stablecoins, which the British bank views as rails enabling real-world assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and other funds to migrate onchain.

“All assets and infrastructure exist on the same ledger and can therefore interact without barriers,” Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, wrote in a note shared with DL News.

Kendrick’s bullish call comes amid major turbulence in the DeFi space that has shaken investors’ onchain confidence.

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DeFi rebound

Earlier in April, a nearly $300 million exploit of the Ethereum liquid restaking protocol KelpDAO triggered a bank run on the decentralised lending platform Aave.

Aave lost $17 billion in deposits and $5.5 billion in active loans as panic spread, in what Kendrick calls “one of the most severe DeFi shocks in recent memory.”

But rather than fracturing, the DeFi community coordinated. A coalition of DeFi protocols and companies raised more than $300 million to stabilise the system and restore backing ratios.

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While the hack exposed vulnerabilities and dented confidence, Kendrick argues it does not derail the core growth engine of tokenisation.

Rapid industry stabilisation efforts and structural upgrades reinforce the long-term case for DeFi banking and stablecoin liquidity — the twin pillars supporting a projected $2 trillion real world asset market by 2028.

Onchain banking boom

Kendrick said he expects a DeFi banking bonanza.

Lending in DeFi lowers the cost of capital because everything is built on “composability” and works more seamlessly than in traditional finance.

In simple terms, one asset can do several jobs at once. It can earn returns, be used as collateral for a loan, and still stay available to trade. This can increase overall returns without taking on more risk, according to the report.

In traditional finance, achieving that same multi-use profile requires capital to sit across separate intermediaries such as brokers, banks, and custodians, increasing cost and friction.

Several parts of DeFi make this far more efficient, according to Kendrick. Lending platforms let users earn returns and take out loans. Liquid staking allows assets to stay usable even while they are staked. Decentralised exchanges provide the liquidity needed for trading.

“Lending protocols are the central focus of this activity,” Kendrick said. “Without them, there would be no connection across multi-use activities.”

Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com