Standard Chartered Predicts $4 Trillion in On-Chain Tokenized Assets by End of 2028, DeFi Protocols to Be Main Beneficiary

According to Standard Chartered on May 18, Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, predicted that on-chain tokenized assets will reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, with stablecoins and real-world assets (RWA) each accounting for $2 trillion.

Standard Chartered expects mature DeFi protocols with robust risk management and scalability to be the primary beneficiaries of this trend. Kendrick highlighted DeFi’s core advantage of composability, where the same asset can simultaneously earn yield, serve as collateral, and maintain liquidity. To illustrate, the bank cited BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL, which offers approximately 4% Treasury yield and can be converted to sBUIDL for use as collateral in lending protocols. The bank also noted that current on-chain assets are approximately 1,000 times smaller than off-chain assets, suggesting institutional-grade asset tokenization will be a key growth driver. Data shows Aave’s assets have reached scales comparable to the 38th largest U.S. bank, and on-chain stablecoin lending daily volumes already exceed $1.5–2 billion.