Fueled by a red-hot crypto market, the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Aave hit multiple all-time highs this week. On August 15, Aave’s cumulative deposits crossed the $3 trillion mark, while its active loans topped $29 billion on August 13. The protocol’s Total Value Locked (TVL) also reached a record high of $40 billion on August 14, according to data from Token Terminal and DefiLlama.
The broader DeFi lending sector is now the second-largest category in decentralized finance, with a combined TVL of $75.3 billion across more than 500 protocols. The sector has seen a strong performance lately, growing by 18.7% over the past month.
Aave stands out as the undisputed leader in this space, commanding a dominant 66.7% market share of the DeFi lending market. Its closest competitor, Morpho, holds just a fraction of Aave’s deposits, making Aave nearly six times larger.
This growth trajectory has been remarkable. Aave’s TVL has climbed 25.7% in the last 30 days, with active loans increasing by almost $8 billion in the same period. This expansion places Aave among the top 41 U.S.-chartered commercial banks by deposit volume, even surpassing established financial institutions like Barclays.
The AAVE token itself has seen a strong rebound, surging 138% from its 2025 low. Aave founder Stani Kulechov is bullish on the platform’s future, projecting that it could reach $100 billion in net deposits by the end of the year. This would put Aave on par with global financial giants like Deutsche Bank.
This rapid expansion is driven by both institutional adoption and strategic partnerships. For example, Nasdaq-listed company BTCS uses Aave to generate yield on its Ethereum holdings, and Ethena has deposited $6.4 billion of its USDe stablecoin on the platform. These milestones suggest that Aave is evolving into a key piece of institutional-grade financial infrastructure.
