DeFi Set to Challenge TradFi With $2T in Tokenized Assets by 2028: Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered forecasts DeFi will challenge traditional finance, projecting $2 trillion in tokenized real-world assets by 2028, driven by a 2025 stablecoin boom.Summary
Investment bank Standard Chartered projects that decentralized finance (DeFi) will emerge as a major challenger to traditional finance (TradFi), forecasting that tokenized real-world assets (RWA) will reach a market capitalization of $2 trillion by the end of 2028, up from $35 billion currently. This growth is attributed to the 2025 stablecoin boom, which has accelerated DeFi's transition from a niche activity to a mainstream force by providing essential on-chain liquidity for innovation in lending and borrowing. Tokenized money-market funds and listed equities are each expected to contribute around $750 billion to this total. Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, noted that this liquidity fuels a self-reinforcing cycle where new products attract more liquidity. The primary risk identified in the report is a lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. before the 2026 midterm elections, although this is not the bank's base case.
(Source：CoinDesk)