Institutional asset rails flowing into a layered blockchain network representing Arbitrum adoption

Standard Chartered Sees Arbitrum Reaching $10 by 2030

By Isaac • September 15, 2026 3:15 pm • Comments

Standard Chartered has opened coverage of Arbitrum’s ARB token with one of the boldest long-range forecasts currently attached to a major crypto network: $10 by the end of 2030.

ARB was trading around $0.13 to $0.15 when the research circulated Tuesday, meaning the bank’s target implies roughly 70-fold upside from the lower end of that range. The forecast is eye-catching, but the reasoning behind it is more important than the number.

The Block reports that Standard Chartered digital-assets research chief Geoff Kendrick sees Arbitrum becoming a core infrastructure provider for traditional financial firms moving assets onchain. The bank expects ARB to outperform both Bitcoin and Ether through the end of the decade if that transition accelerates.

Trending: Avalanche Says UAE PASS Will Use Its Blockchain for a 12 Million-User Digital Vault

The bank laid out annual checkpoints instead of offering only a distant headline number. Its targets rise from $0.50 at the end of 2026 to $1.50 in 2027, $3.50 in 2028, $6.50 in 2029, and $10 in 2030.

Kendrick’s team also projected Bitcoin at $500,000 and Ether at $40,000 by 2030, which shows how strongly it favors ARB on a percentage-return basis. The report still identified slower tokenization, competition from rival chains, and ARB’s weak direct value accrual as meaningful risks.

The scale of the call quickly drew attention across crypto markets:

Robinhood Chain gives the thesis a live test

The bank’s argument starts with the Arbitrum Expansion Program. External chains built with Arbitrum technology contribute 10% of their net protocol revenue back to the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Robinhood Chain, which launched July 1, is the first large-scale example of that model in action.

Standard Chartered estimates Arbitrum could receive about $5 million in expansion-program fees during September at the current run rate. Robinhood Chain generated average daily fee revenue of about $2.8 million during the first two weeks of the month, while Arbitrum’s total monthly revenue climbed to more than five times its pre-launch level.

That gives investors something concrete to watch. If more banks, brokerages, and asset managers launch dedicated chains with Arbitrum’s technology, the network could earn recurring revenue without depending only on activity inside Arbitrum One.

Tokenized assets are the much bigger bet

The second pillar is tokenization. Standard Chartered projects tokenized assets could expand from roughly $340 billion to $4 trillion by the end of 2028.

The bank also sees tokenized equities growing to approximately $750 billion over that period.

Crypto Economy notes that the bank views Arbitrum’s business model as especially well positioned for financial institutions that want their own onchain infrastructure. Instead of asking those firms to share one public environment, Arbitrum can supply the technology for specialized networks and participate in the resulting economics.

That distinction matters because Standard Chartered’s thesis is not based only on transaction activity inside Arbitrum One. The expansion model gives the ecosystem a way to benefit when a brokerage, bank, or asset manager chooses Arbitrum technology for a dedicated chain.

Robinhood Chain offers the first large example, while the bank’s broader forecast assumes other institutions will follow.

The report also tracked ARB near $0.1510, up roughly 7.6% over 24 hours as the forecast spread. Traders immediately recognized the revenue model as a different kind of valuation argument for a layer-2 token.

The harder question is whether growth in network revenue will eventually translate into direct value for ARB holders, because that link does not yet exist.

The revenue-to-token gap remains the key risk

A growing network does not automatically guarantee a rising token. ARB holders do not currently receive a direct claim on expansion-program revenue, and Standard Chartered itself identified that missing value-accrual link as a major risk. Competition from other scaling networks and a slower pace of real-world asset tokenization could also undermine the forecast.

The bank supplied interim targets of $0.50 for the end of 2026, $1.50 in 2027, $3.50 in 2028, and $6.50 in 2029 before reaching $10 in 2030. Those checkpoints make the thesis testable long before the final date.

Standard Chartered’s call depends on Arbitrum becoming infrastructure for a wave of institution-built chains. Those chains would need to produce meaningful revenue, and the market would eventually need to give the ARB token credit for that business.

Robinhood Chain is the first proof point. The next few institutional launches will show whether it can become a repeatable model.

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

 

Search ProCoinNews