Standard Chartered: LINK could rise to $200 — a bet on tokenization of real-world assets
Standard Chartered's analytical department has revised its view on Chainlink (LINK), raising its target price to $200 by the end of 2030. This implies growth of approximately 25 times from current levels around $8. At the core of this optimistic scenario is LINK's role as critical infrastructure for the tokenized assets (RWA) market.
Geoff Kendrick, the bank's head of digital asset research, calls the protocol the "only end-to-end platform" capable of covering the full lifecycle of tokenized assets—from issuance to management in DeFi and traditional finance. According to his logic, as real-world assets move on-chain, the market will need reliable oracles for external data, secure cross-chain communication, and compliance tools—precisely the niches where Chainlink already holds dominant positions.
Standard Chartered also expects network fee generation to grow approximately 25 times by the end of the decade. Among the users of Chainlink's services are giants such as SWIFT, DTCC, Euroclear, JPMorgan, Mastercard, UBS, Fidelity, and S&P Global. This is not just a client list but an indicator that LINK's infrastructure is becoming the institutional-grade standard.
Risks that could break the scenario
Kendrick, however, highlights three key risks to his forecast:
- a slowdown in the pace of institutional tokenization;
- competition from specialized providers in individual segments;
- technical or configuration failures that could undermine trust in the platform.
Notably, the market is already showing a trend in favor of RWA: based on my calculations from CoinShares data, the volume of such assets on lending platforms and DEXs reached $7.4 billion in the second quarter, compared to $2.3 billion a year earlier. That is more than a threefold increase, and Chainlink is at the epicenter of this movement.
My view: the $200 forecast looks ambitious but not fantastical if institutional tokenization accelerates. However, investors should remember: LINK is not just a coin, but a bet that the entire RWA industry will be built around one dominant oracle. Competition and regulatory pauses could significantly adjust this timeline.