Standard Chartered predicts 10x surge for ARB

Standard Chartered has formally added @Arbitrum's $ARB token to its digital asset coverage universe, projecting a rise from its current price of around $0.14 to $10 by the end of 2030. That target implies a roughly 70x return over the forecast period and places the bank among the more bullish institutional voices on Layer 2 infrastructure.

Robinhood Chain as the Core Fee Driver

Central to Standard Chartered's thesis is the rapid rise of Robinhood Chain as the dominant source of on-chain fee income for the Arbitrum ecosystem. Robinhood Chain, a new Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built on Arbitrum's technology, launched its public mainnet on July 1, 2026, focusing on tokenized real-world assets and DeFi applications. Robinhood Chain introduced a fee-sharing model where 10% of net protocol fees go back to the Arbitrum ecosystem, with 8% to the DAO treasury and 2% to the Developer Guild.

The fee volumes behind Standard Chartered's projections have real-world backing. Robinhood Chain generated $3.75 million in daily fees on September 1, 2026, according to DeFiLlama, and that figure was the fourth straight day the network set a new record, signaling a sustained surge rather than a brief burst of activity. DefiLlama data showed that Robinhood Chain attracted $2.9 million in chain fees over the 24 hours through Sunday, compared with just $12,238 on Arbitrum's own chain. The bank projects $5 million in monthly fees from the chain for September, a figure that now looks conservative given the recent daily run-rate.

This new, transparent fee stream from a large consumer platform like Robinhood is being interpreted as a regime shift, re-pricing ARB less as a "dormant governance token" and more as a claim on a fast-growing app-chain ecosystem. The Arbitrum Expansion Program requires chains built on Arbitrum's technology that settle outside Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova to return 10% of net protocol revenue to the Arbitrum ecosystem.

Tokenization Assets and Institutional Momentum

Beyond fee income, Standard Chartered's assessment highlights Arbitrum's fast-growing tokenization pipeline as a key valuation driver. Robinhood Chain is an Ethereum Layer 2 built on Arbitrum, with the goal of accelerating the development of onchain financial services, starting with tokenized real-world and digital assets. Robinhood has committed $1 million toward the 2026 Arbitrum Open House program to support developer activity on the Robinhood Chain testnet and future mainnet.

The broader $ARB token has already reflected some of this optimism. Arbitrum's price climbed 90% from the record low it set in June, with the rally accelerating after Robinhood Chain fees reached an all-time high of $4.45 million on September 2. Despite that recovery, the token still trades well below Standard Chartered's 2030 target, leaving a wide gap that the bank believes expanding institutional adoption of Layer 2 infrastructure can close over the coming years.

Sources
Yahoo Finance: Robinhood Chain Now Earns 240x The Fees Of Arbitrum Itself
Cryptopolitan: Robinhood Chain fees hit record $3.75M as Arbitrum collects its 10% cut
Robinhood Newsroom: Robinhood Chain Launches Public Testnet