Standard Chartered has issued a new forecast that puts decentralized finance on a steep growth trajectory: $2.7 trillion in total value locked by 2030. The bank points to tokenization of real-world assets and native crypto expansion as the twin engines behind that projection.
Inside the forecast
Standard Chartered's analysts see DeFi's locked assets climbing significantly from current levels by the end of the decade. The prediction, published this week, covers both tokenized traditional assets and purely on-chain DeFi. The $2.7 trillion figure represents total value locked across all DeFi protocols, according to the bank's research team.
Tokenization as a lever
A big part of the projected growth comes from tokenization — the process of putting real-world assets like bonds, real estate, and commodities onto blockchain rails. Standard Chartered notes that as more institutions adopt tokenized securities, DeFi protocols built for lending, borrowing, and trading will capture a larger share of that value. Tokenization opens up a pool of assets that sits outside crypto today, and the bank expects it to unlock billions of dollars in liquidity for DeFi markets.
Crypto-native growth
The other driver is growth within crypto itself. More users, more applications, and more capital flowing into existing DeFi protocols. The bank expects that expansion to continue as the infrastructure matures and user experience improves. Lending platforms, decentralized exchanges, and yield-generating protocols are all part of that organic growth, which Standard Chartered says will persist even as tokenization brings in new types of assets.
Standard Chartered's forecast, released on June 15, 2026, is based on the assumption that both tokenization and native DeFi growth remain on trend. The $2.7 trillion figure is one of the highest long-term targets from a major bank for the sector.
