Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick forecasts 50x growth in non-stablecoin onchain assets

Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, projects a 50-fold increase in non-stablecoin tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) over the next two to three years. This growth forecast targets an expansion from a mid-2026 baseline of $35 to $40 billion to approximately $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion by 2028. The bank identifies the tokenization of traditional instruments like bonds and funds as the primary driver for this institutional migration onto public blockchains. Kendrick emphasizes that the composability of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols will be essential for integrating these assets into lending and yield-generating applications. While the bank maintains its long-term outlook, it has adjusted its timeline for stablecoin market growth to 2030 due to evolving market dynamics. The realization of these projections remains contingent upon the passage of U.S. regulatory frameworks such as the Clarity and GENIUS Acts. This forecast underscores a strategic shift in focus toward non-stablecoin RWA adoption as a core pillar of the future onchain economy.