- Banks are getting into real-world token assets.
- Standard Chartered says it expects non-stable assets to be worth $2 trillion.
- Ethereum and DeFi protocols like Aave are seen as big winners.
- Next year’s US midterm elections risk derailing the recovery.
DeFi is poised for a $2 trillion boom.
That’s according to Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at UK bank Standard Chartered, who expects Wall Street’s growing adoption of blockchain technology to see the market for real-world tokenized assets grow by more than 5,600% by 2028.
This figure excludes the stablecoin market, which has exploded to just under $308 billion in 2025, fueled by a friendlier U.S. government.
“Stablecoins create a platform for DeFi to continue its expansion in the years to come,” Kendrick wrote. “Their success in 2025 has raised awareness in developed markets and created the necessary on-chain liquidity to enable other DeFi solutions.”
He predicted that tokenized money market funds powered by stablecoins would be worth $750 billion in a $2 trillion market. The rest of the market will be made up of $750 billion in tokenized stocks and $250 billion in tokenized funds, Kendrick said.
“The least liquid segments of private equity, commodities, corporate debt and real estate account for the remaining $250 billion,” he added.
The comments highlight the optimism around token assets in traditional finance. BlackRock, State Street and Deutsche Bank are just a few of the financial giants moving into this space.
Winners
Kendrick said the DeFi boom is driven by three factors: growing awareness in developed markets, on-chain liquidity, and the expansion of on-chain lending.
Ethereum did it and “key DeFi protocols like Aave are going to be the winners,” Kendrick said.
Indeed, Aave, DeFi’s largest lending platform, recently relaunched its institutional platform to capitalize on growing interest from Wall Street.
Earlier this week, the Ethereum Foundation rolled out a new institutional platform called Ethereum for Institutions, a site designed to guide traditional financial institutions in integrating Ethereum’s blockchain infrastructure.
“Clear pathways are essential as institutions build on Ethereum,” the foundation said in its announcement.
“The main risk”
Fueling the recovery has been the U.S. government’s desire to regulate the crypto market and control the industry less strictly than during the Biden years. Pro-crypto individuals have been appointed to key government positions, a landmark stablecoin bill has been signed into law, and Congress appears to be close to finalizing a large-scale markets bill.
To be sure, Kendrick warns that next year presents a huge danger that could disrupt growth.
“The main risk would be that regulatory clarity in the US does not materialize – a possibility if the US administration is unable to pass regulatory changes before the November 2026 midterm elections, but this is not our base case scenario,” he said.
Crypto market players
- Bitcoin is down 0.3% over the past 24 hours to trade at $109,906.
- Ethereum is down 1.5% over the past 24 hours, trading at $3,841.
What we read
Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ European markets correspondent. Do you have any advice? E-mail atlance@dlnews.com.
