Key Highlights
- Major banking institution Standard Chartered has begun covering Uniswap with a bold $100 UNI price projection by 2030’s end, representing a 40-fold increase from approximately $2.50.
- Standard Chartered anticipates tokenized on-chain assets will surge from $340 billion to $4 trillion by 2028.
- Total value locked in decentralized finance protocols may hit $2.7 trillion by 2030, marking a 37-fold expansion from today’s figures.
- The bank’s stepped forecast sees UNI reaching $6.50 by late 2026, then $20 in 2027, $40 in 2028, $65 in 2029, and finally $100 in 2030.
- Following its December 2025 fee mechanism update, Uniswap has eliminated 5 million UNI tokens, reducing total supply to 895 million.
On June 15, 2026, Standard Chartered Bank published research initiating coverage on Uniswap with an ambitious $100 valuation target for the UNI token by December 2030. At publication time, UNI was changing hands near $2.50.
The research was penned by Geoffrey Kendrick, who serves as Global Head of Digital Assets Research at the financial institution. His analysis points to a potential 40-fold appreciation from present valuation levels.
Standard Chartered’s projection follows a progressive timeline: $6.50 by December 2026, $20 by December 2027, $40 by December 2028, $65 by December 2029, and ultimately $100 by December 2030. Kendrick anticipates UNI will deliver superior returns compared to both bitcoin and ethereum throughout this timeframe.
According to Kendrick: “I think the next opportunity for generational wealth in digital assets is going to come via the DeFi protocols.”
The financial institution simultaneously published forecasts for additional digital assets. Their outlook includes ethereum climbing to $40,000 and bitcoin ascending to $500,000 by 2030’s conclusion.
Decentralized Finance Expansion Drives Investment Thesis
The bullish case hinges on accelerating tokenized asset adoption. Standard Chartered’s research indicates on-chain tokenized assets will expand from today’s $340 billion to $4 trillion by late 2028.
The proportion of these assets actively deployed in DeFi protocols is projected to jump from 3.5% currently to 30% by 2030’s end. This shift would elevate total value locked in DeFi to approximately $2.7 trillion, representing a 37-fold multiplication from present levels.
Kendrick noted: “We expect the value of tokenised assets active in DeFi to grow 37x between now and end-2030.”
Uniswap’s liquidity infrastructure stands to benefit substantially, as increased capital flows into DeFi translate directly to expanded trading opportunities across the protocol.
Comparing Uniswap to Coinbase
Kendrick drew an analogy between Uniswap and YouTube, while likening Coinbase to Netflix. Uniswap operates as open infrastructure enabling permissionless liquidity pool creation; Coinbase functions as a centralized exchange controlling its own marketplace.
This architectural difference grants Uniswap significantly lower capital requirements, as liquidity originates from community participants rather than platform reserves. Kendrick suggests enhanced commercialization strategies and stronger traditional finance integration could eventually elevate Uniswap’s market capitalization-to-fee ratio toward levels comparable with Coinbase.
Despite processing transaction volumes similar to Coinbase, Uniswap currently commands a substantially lower valuation multiple.
In December 2025, Uniswap implemented protocol fees via the UNIfication upgrade. Subsequently, the protocol has accumulated $21 million in fees while burning 5 million UNI tokens, equivalent to roughly a 1% annualized burn rate.
When combined with a separate one-time elimination of 100 million UNI, overall supply has decreased from 1 billion to 895 million tokens. The circulating supply currently sits at 622 million.
UNI was priced around $2.70 when Standard Chartered released its research on June 15, 2026.
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