Standard Chartered Sees Aave Capturing Growth in Tokenized DeFi Assets
Aave is a decentralized lending protocol that allows users to earn interest by depositing crypto assets or borrow against overcollateralized positions. Standard Chartered believes the migration of tokenized real-world assets into DeFi will broaden the sources of collateral and liquidity. If Aave restores its deposit base, it could reassert its leadership in onchain lending and become an important gauge of institutional DeFi adoption.
Standard Chartered initiated coverage of Aave on June 24, 2026, forecasting that the AAVE token could reach $3,500 by the end of 2030—a 50-fold increase from roughly $70 when the report was published. Aave deposits fell from $44 billion to $23 billion following the $292 million KelpDAO attack on April 18, while its market share dropped from a pre-attack average of 59% to 38%.
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The history behind this eventAave Posts Biggest Network Growth in Nearly Five Years as DeFi Interest Returns
Aave is a major decentralized lending protocol in the Ethereum ecosystem, allowing users to deposit assets, earn interest or borrow against collateral through smart contracts. Growth in new wallets is a gauge of onchain adoption. Its expansion despite weakness in the broader crypto market suggests that capital and users may be turning their attention back to DeFi.
Aave added 1,806 Ethereum wallets on June 30, marking its strongest single day of network growth since 2021 and its largest increase in nearly five years. The AAVE token also bucked the broader market decline with a weekly gain, while the protocol's total value locked rose to about $12.2 billion, underscoring renewed market interest.
Standard Chartered Says Tokenization Could Channel Trillions of Dollars Into DeFi
Asset tokenization puts rights to real-world assets such as bonds, funds and real estate on a blockchain, enabling round-the-clock trading, fractional ownership and their use as collateral. If traditional financial assets move on-chain at scale, DeFi could expand beyond cryptocurrency markets into institutional-grade lending and trading, potentially increasing the amount of capital in the sector significantly.
Standard Chartered’s latest forecast puts the tokenized-asset market at $4 trillion by 2028. The bank expects that growth to increase demand for blockchain-native lending, trading and liquidity infrastructure, drawing trillions of dollars in assets and related financial activity into the DeFi ecosystem.
Aave Tops $1 Trillion in Lending, Eyes More Bank and Fintech Integrations
Aave is a decentralized lending protocol powered by smart contracts, allowing users to deposit assets, earn returns or borrow against collateral without a traditional bank. Cumulative lending volume reflects the platform's long-term demand for capital and depth of liquidity. Passing the trillion-dollar threshold also signals that DeFi is gradually moving beyond crypto-native markets toward becoming mainstream financial infrastructure.
As of July 20, 2026, Aave had formally surpassed $1 trillion in cumulative lending volume, becoming the first DeFi protocol to reach the milestone. CEO Stani Kulechov said the next phase would focus on making Aave the world's most efficient liquidity network and expanding system integrations with banks and Fintech companies.
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