Standard Chartered presented a forecast of $100 for Uniswap token UNI by the end of 2030. It also said ethereum could rise to $40,000 and bitcoin to $500,000 over the same period.

On June 17, blockchain media outlet The Crypto Basic reported that the key basis for the forecast was expansion of the DeFi market and tokenised real-world assets (RWA). Standard Chartered said that as more tokenised assets move on-chain, the value of Uniswap, which serves as DeFi infrastructure, could be re-rated.

Standard Chartered forecast that UNI could rise to $100 by the end of 2030 from about $3.60 currently. That implies about 28-fold upside from current levels. In the same report, it projected ethereum could rise to $40,000 from about $1,700 and bitcoin to $500,000 from about $66,000.

Standard Chartered's digital assets research team, led by Geoffrey Kendrick (제프리 켄드릭), judged that Uniswap could benefit directly from expanding tokenised assets within DeFi. The bank estimated tokenised assets used in DeFi, currently worth about $340 billion, could increase to about $4 trillion by the end of 2028. It also expected the share of tokenised assets within DeFi to rise to 30 percent by 2030 from about 3.5 percent now.

If the share of tokenised assets grows, the overall size of the DeFi market could also expand. Standard Chartered predicted DeFi total value locked (TVL) could grow to $2.7 trillion by the end of 2030. In the process, Uniswap was assessed as being able to function as a general-purpose infrastructure layer linking trades across different assets.

Standard Chartered cited Uniswap's brand symbolism, long operating history and a structure that can support trades between closely related tokenised assets as strengths. As more real-world assets move on-chain, liquidity pools could create a more efficient market between highly correlated assets, it said. It also said that if Uniswap commercialises these opportunities and expands cooperation with traditional financial institutions, the benefits could grow.

The market also responded after the forecast was published. UNI has risen 36.58 percent over the past week. It is still down about 48 percent for the year to date.

Bitcoin and ethereum have also recouped part of recent losses. Bitcoin rose 7 percent over the past week to trade at about $65,500, but it is down about 25 percent year to date. Ethereum gained 10 percent over the same period to about $1,788, but it has fallen about 40 percent since the start of the year.

The forecast focuses less on a simple price target than on how expanding tokenised assets could lead to a re-rating of DeFi infrastructure. Uniswap was cited in particular as a protocol that could benefit directly if the on-chain market where tokenised assets are traded expands. UNI's recent rebound also shows investor expectations are reviving for the combination of DeFi and RWA.