Tokenized RWA Market Will Soar 5,600% To $2 Trillion By 2028, Standard Chartered Says
The tokenized real-world-assets (RWAs) market is set to soar 5,600% to reach $2 trillion by 2028, with most activity on Ethereum, Standard Chartered said.
Head of digital assets research Geoffrey Kendrick said that stablecoins “have laid the groundwork” for other assets to be tokenized on blockchains, ranging from money market funds (MMFs) to equities.
“Vast Majority” Of RWA Activity Will Take Place On Ethereum
He said he expects the “vast majority” of the tokenized RWA activity to take place on Ethereum, citing the blockchain’s 10-year history of no major network outage.
“The fact that other chains are faster or cheaper is irrelevant, in our view,” Kendrick said.
The analyst said that tokenized MMFs and equities will account for the majority of the $2 trillion market by 2028, and that tokenized funds and other less liquid instruments will follow.
He added that tokenized MMFs and tokenized listed equities could each account for $750 billion of the amount.
Tokenized funds are estimated to make up $250 billion of the market by 2028, while the less liquid private equity, commodities, corporate debt and real estate segments are expected to account for the other $250 billion, the analyst said.
Stablecoins Have Created A Platform For Broader DeFi Expansion
Kendrick said that decentralized finance (DeFi) is starting to disrupt the traditional finance space.
While crypto users and investors have been able to trade, borrow, and lend among themselves for years, the analyst said that the rise of stablecoin liquidity has broadened on-chain lending and borrowing activity across asset types.
“Stablecoins have created several necessary pre-conditions for a broader expansion of DeFi,” he said.
Kendrick said increased public awareness, on-chain liquidity, and on-chain lending and borrowing activity through fiat-pegged products will drive the expansion.
The momentum behind stablecoins accelerated after President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July, sending the sector’s market cap soaring to $300 billion as the sector gained regulatory clarity.
Stablecoin market overview (Source: DefiLlama)
Ethereum holds a dominant market share of 53.8%.
The downside risk to the forecast is that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act may fail to pass. That could happen if the current administration does not push through changes before the 2026 midterm elections, he said.
But even if the so-called Clarity Act does not pass, Kendrick said clearer rules could still be established if agencies like the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) act in line with the proposed law.
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