Chainlink gains $200 target on tokenisation outlook

Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of Chainlink’s LINK token with a price forecast of $200 by the end of 2030, betting that rapid expansion in tokenised assets and decentralised finance will sharply increase demand for the blockchain network’s infrastructure.

The projection implies an increase of roughly 25 times from the price near $8 used when the forecast was prepared. The bank has set an interim target of $13 for the end of 2026, followed by $41 in 2027, $82 in 2028 and $133 in 2029 before reaching $200 the following year.

The forecast rests on expectations that blockchain-based tokenisation will move beyond experiments and become an increasingly important component of mainstream financial markets. Standard Chartered expects the value of tokenised assets held on blockchains to rise from about $340 billion to $4 trillion by the end of 2028.

It also projects a substantial expansion of assets deployed across decentralised finance. Tokenised and crypto-native assets used in DeFi could reach about $2.7 trillion by 2030, roughly 37 times current levels. Such growth would increase demand for systems capable of supplying trusted external data and moving information and assets securely between separate blockchain networks.

Chainlink occupies a central position in that infrastructure. Its decentralised oracle networks allow smart contracts to obtain information that does not exist natively on a blockchain, including market prices, interest rates, asset valuations and reserve information. Oracles have become essential components of DeFi because blockchain applications cannot independently obtain reliable off-chain data.

Standard Chartered estimates that Chainlink secures more than $110 billion of value and represents about 70% of oracle-dependent DeFi globally. Its share is even higher across some Ethereum-based applications, strengthening the case that growing financial activity on blockchains could translate into higher utilisation of Chainlink services.

The bank expects Chainlink’s fee generation to expand roughly 25-fold by 2030. The investment case therefore depends not only on growth in cryptocurrency markets but on greater use of blockchain infrastructure by asset managers, banks and other traditional financial institutions.

Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, known as CCIP, is another significant part of that thesis. CCIP allows applications and financial institutions to transfer data and tokens between different blockchain networks while applying common security standards. Its quarterly transaction volume reached about $4.9 billion during the second quarter of 2026, representing year-on-year growth of more than 350%.

The network has also developed links with organisations including Swift, DTCC, Euroclear, JPMorgan, Mastercard, UBS, Fidelity and S&P Global. Institutional projects involving tokenised funds, securities and other financial assets require reliable data feeds as well as mechanisms for communication between public blockchains, private networks and established financial infrastructure.

Research into tokenisation has increasingly highlighted the importance of such intermediary infrastructure. Financial institutions experimenting with blockchain-based bonds, funds and other securities still need external pricing, identity, compliance and settlement information to interact with smart contracts. Academic work has also identified regulatory interoperability, confidentiality and transaction finality as important hurdles to broader institutional adoption.

The bullish forecast nevertheless depends on several assumptions that could prove vulnerable. Slower institutional adoption of tokenisation would reduce potential network activity, while competition from alternative oracle and interoperability providers could erode Chainlink’s market share. Technical failures or security incidents could also damage confidence in infrastructure carrying increasingly valuable financial transactions.

Oracle systems themselves remain a sensitive element of DeFi architecture. Research has documented operational anomalies and the potential consequences of inaccurate data feeds, while price-manipulation attacks continue to demonstrate the risks that arise when financial applications depend on external information. These vulnerabilities make resilience and data integrity crucial as the amount of capital handled through blockchain applications grows.

LINK was trading around $8-$9 when Standard Chartered issued its outlook, leaving a substantial gap between prevailing market valuations and the bank’s longer-term target. The projection therefore represents a structural bet on the growth of blockchain-based finance rather than an expectation of immediate price appreciation.