Standard Chartered projects 25x growth for Chainlink by 2030

Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at the bank, outlines a trajectory that sees the token reaching $13 by 2026 before climbing to $200 by the decade's end. This forecast assumes Chainlink will maintain its dominant position in the oracle market, where it currently secures over $110 billion in value and holds roughly 70% of the DeFi sector's oracle-dependent assets.

The valuation model rests on the bank’s projection that tokenized assets on blockchains will grow from $340 billion to $4 trillion by 2028, with DeFi assets expanding 37-fold to $2.7 trillion. As traditional financial institutions—including Swift, JPMorgan, and Fidelity—integrate blockchain for funds and bonds, the demand for reliable external data and cross-chain transfers is expected to rise. Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has already seen significant adoption, recording $4.9 billion in volume during the second quarter, a 353% increase year-over-year.

Despite the optimistic outlook, the bank acknowledges substantial risks. The forecast hinges on the successful transition of pilot projects into recurring production workflows and the continued migration of assets from legacy bridges to Chainlink infrastructure. Should institutional tokenization face regulatory or technical delays, or if competition from specialized interoperability providers intensifies, the projected price growth could be hindered.