Crypto could hit $28T by 2030 on Bitcoin, DeFi, tokenization: ARK

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest predicts digital assets could grow into a $28 trillion market by 2030, with growth primarily linked to increasing Bitcoin adoption and its potential price appreciation.

ARK estimated in its “Big Ideas 2026” report on Wednesday that the crypto market would expand at a 61% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to meet the $28 trillion target by 2030, adding that Bitcoin could account for 70% of that figure.

Source: Cointelegraph

Given that about 20.5 million Bitcoin (BTC) are expected to have been mined by 2030, such a scenario could see Bitcoin’s price in the $950,000 to $1 million ballpark.

“Bitcoin is maturing as the leader of a new institutional asset class,” ARK Invest said, pointing out that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and corporate Bitcoin holders increased their share of Bitcoin’s total supply from 8.7% to 12% in 2025.

Last February, Wood said Bitcoin could reach up to $1.5 million over the same timeframe.

Bitcoin’s change in price in 2025 and key institutional milestones. Source: ARK Invest

The asset manager said the growth could also come from increased adoption of decentralized finance, stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), with top smart contract chains like Ethereum and Solana tipped to benefit most.

ARK predicted these smart contract platforms could grow at a 54% CAGR to $6 trillion by 2030, noting that they currently generate annualized revenue of about $192 billion with an average take rate of 0.75%.

Total capital secured across various blockchains. Source: ARK Invest

However, ARK said the cryptocurrencies behind these smart contract chains will likely derive more of their market capitalization from their store of value and reserve asset traits than from discounted cash flows.

Tokenized RWAs could hit $11 trillion

ARK also tipped that $11 trillion worth of RWAs will be tokenized by 2030, on expectations of more regulatory clarity and improved institutional-grade infrastructure.

Data from RWA.xyz states that $22.25 billion worth of RWAs are tokenized onchain, meaning the market would need to grow at a 245.8% CAGR to meet ARK’s target.