After the recent Republican win in the US elections, Standard Chartered believes that digital assets could be a major catalyst for growth, potentially increasing their combined market cap from $2.5 trillion to $10 trillion by the end of 2026. The bank’s latest report highlights how anticipated regulatory shifts under the new administration may lead to mainstream adoption of digital assets, as policy changes and regulatory rollbacks create a more favorable environment.
Factors that could influence this growth trajectory include repealing stifling rules, such as SEC guidance known as SAB 121, which has limited the ability of crypto custodians to offer custodial services. The report also notes that stablecoins may see significant benefits, as a Republican-led administration could push initiatives forward to legitimize their use in traditional finance applications.
Bitcoin is expected to remain a central asset in the digital space, with its price predicted to rise to around $200,000 by 2025. Smart contract platforms and layer 2 blockchains, which facilitate decentralized applications and DeFi protocols, are also forecasted to gain value at a faster rate than Bitcoin over the coming years.
The report highlights growth potential in emerging sectors such as DeFi and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePin), predicting that DeFi could increase its share of the market to around $700 billion by 2026. Finally, categories like gaming, tokenization, and consumer-focused decentralized social networks are projected to expand, contributing to an “other” category that could reach a market cap of $1.5 trillion by 2026.
The bank attributes this anticipated growth to a combination of favorable policy changes, rising institutional interest, and the maturation of various blockchain use cases.
