Standard Chartered has launched research coverage for Arbitrum’s ARB token, issuing a year-end 2030 price forecast of $10 while noting that the network stands to gain from traditional financial institutions increasingly adopting blockchain infrastructure.
As indicated by The Block’s ARB price data, Arbitrum changed hands near $0.13 on Tuesday, registering a 1.06% decline over the preceding 24 hours. This valuation objective represents a massive 70-fold appreciation from that trading point, supported by intermediary milestones of $0.50 by the close of 2026, $1.50 by the end of 2027, $3.50 by the termination of 2028, and $6.50 concluding 2029.
Within an advisory memo sent to customers, Geoff Kendrick, who leads global digital assets research at Standard Chartered, mentioned that the institution anticipates ARB to surpass both bitcoin and ether across this timeline. The financial institution estimated ether will climb to $4,000 by 2026’s conclusion and $40,000 by 2030’s end, alongside predictions that bitcoin will hit $100,000 by the finish of 2026 and $500,000 by the conclusion of 2030.
Arbitrum’s expanding utility
Kendrick pointed out Arbitrum’s function as a corporate-grade infrastructure supplier that assists legacy financial entities in migrating assets onto the blockchain. Through the Arbitrum Expansion Program, the platform secures a continuous fee equivalent to 10% of the net protocol earnings generated by outside networks utilizing its development framework.
Kendrick stated in his report that digital assets are evolving from a phase where earnings hold little importance into an era where revenue generation matters deeply, pointing out that Arbitrum’s financial architecture centers heavily on profit generation, which should advantage the ARB asset.
Following the rollout of Robinhood Chain on July 1, Standard Chartered calculates that Arbitrum will collect roughly $5 million via AEP fees throughout September based on existing velocity. The bank noted that daily fee income for Robinhood Chain averaged $2.8 million across the initial fortnight of September, while Arbitrum’s aggregate monthly turnover currently exceeds five times its pre-launch metrics.
Kendrick expressed that the swift traction of Robinhood Chain elevates the likelihood that comparable traditional finance networks will similarly deploy utilizing the Arbitrum development framework, thereby boosting the probability of upcoming AEP collections. He additionally observed substantial room for markets to adjust ARB’s valuation multiple upward to align closer with Layer 1 standards.
The valuation thesis put forward by Kendrick likewise relies heavily on the proliferation of tokenized assets. Standard Chartered projects that tokenized assets will expand from roughly $340 billion to touch $4 trillion by the end of 2028. Simultaneously, tokenized shares could scale up to $750 billion during that identical timeframe.
On the flip side, the institution identified potential threats to its projection, including a deceleration in asset tokenization, rivalry from alternative blockchain networks, and the current absence of direct value capture mechanisms for ARB. Kendrick further mentioned ongoing initiatives by the DTCC concerning tokenized stocks and unpassed American legislation like the Clarity Act.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-09-15-standard-chartered-sees-arbitrum-at-10-by-end-2030-up-70-fold-414821.
