Standard Chartered projects tokenized real-world assets might approach $2 trillion by 2028, and it expects the vast majority of that value to reside on Ethereum. The forecast places practical pressure on custody, wallet design and monitoring tools used by firms that handle tokenized securities and other on-chain claims.
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What the projection reports
The bank's analysis presents a scenario in which a large share of traditional assets — from bonds to property stakes — become represented as tokens on public blockchains. The report singles out Ethereum as the likely host for most of these tokens. That expectation reflects the platform's existing developer base and deployed tooling for programmable assets, according to the study.
Why Ethereum figures prominently
Ethereum's token standards and smart contract tooling are common reasons cited for its prominence. Market participants already use ERC token types for stablecoins, tokenized funds and other transferable claims, and the network supports a range of custody and compliance primitives. The bank's projection points to those practical advantages when arguing that the majority of tokenized real-world assets could settle on Ethereum.
Operational consequences for custody and wallets
If a large portion of real-world asset value moves on-chain, custody models must adapt. Institutional custodians will have to combine traditional controls with smart-contract-aware custody. Wallets that serve institutions and high-value holders will need richer signing workflows, support for emerging token standards, and clearer audit trails. The development will place new operational demands on crypto wallets that aim to serve regulated entities.
Compliance and provenance on public rails
Regulatory obligations that apply to off-chain securities do not disappear when an asset is tokenized. Firms will need systems that record provenance, enforce transfer restrictions and provide regulators with access to transaction history in a usable form. On-chain records can help with traceability, but they do not remove the need for legal wrappers and compliance controls. The report highlights those tensions and points to a need for integrated custody and registry approaches, managed by trusted entities, to align legal and technical records.
Data demands and monitoring
Large volumes of institutional activity on public chains will create demand for advanced on-chain monitoring and analytics. Market operators, compliance teams and investment managers will require reliable feeds that tie token movements to legal entities and permit surveillance for market abuse and sanctions compliance. That requirement increases the role for crypto analytics firms and internal teams that can reconcile on-chain flows with off-chain records.
Liquidity, fee economics and layer choices
Economic frictions on any network can alter adoption patterns. High transaction costs or congestion on a base chain could push some token issuers to layer-two networks, sidechains or permissioned ledgers. Developers and issuers will evaluate fee models, settlement finality and interoperability when deciding where to mint and trade tokens. The bank's projection recognizes Ethereum's current dominance, but it also implies a continuing need for lower-cost settlement rails and cross-chain connectivity.
Risk areas to watch
Tokenized assets introduce several risk categories that firms and regulators must manage. Smart contract vulnerabilities, custody misconfiguration, and unclear legal treatment of tokens could produce operational losses. Market concentration on a single protocol may expose institutions to systemic risks tied to that chain's performance. Effective risk management will require robust testing, insurance considerations and clearer legal frameworks that define ownership and enforceability of tokenized claims.
Impacts on market participants
Issuers may find tokenization attractive for faster settlement and programmatic features, but they will also face new technology demands. Exchanges and trading platforms will need to integrate custody, token standards and compliance tooling into their product stacks. Asset managers will evaluate tokenized products on liquidity, custody costs and transparency. Service providers that can bridge legal frameworks with smart contracts will occupy an increasingly important role in the value chain.
Signals for infrastructure builders
Infrastructure firms should interpret the projection as a call to strengthen core capabilities. Engaging with reliable custody primitives, improving multisignature and threshold signature schemes, and offering neat auditability will matter. Third-party providers that can supply reconciled back-office systems and secure onboarding will find demand if tokenized issuance grows as projected. Investment in tooling that connects on-chain data to traditional reconciliation systems will be important.
What watchers should track next
Evidence that tokenization is scaling will come from issuance volumes, regulatory clarity, and major institutional deployments. Observers should track announcements by banks, custodians and exchanges that create tokenized products, as well as the evolution of legal frameworks governing digital representations of assets. On-chain indicators such as token minting activity and transfers, combined with off-chain issuance records, will provide a clearer picture of adoption over time.
Conclusion
The projection that tokenized real-world assets could reach $2 trillion by 2028, with most activity on Ethereum, signals a potential reallocation of infrastructure and risk management priorities. Institutions, custodians and wallet providers must prepare for increased demands on operations, compliance and monitoring. Reliable crypto wallets and strong crypto analytics capabilities will play essential roles if the market grows as forecast, and firms that integrate legal, operational and technical controls will be better positioned to handle tokenized assets.