- Aave surpassed $1T in cumulative loan volume and holds $27.2 billion in TVL.
- Aave Horizon launched in 2025 to enable borrowing against tokenized real-world assets.
- Protocol generated over $83.3 million in fees in the past 30 days, outpacing peers.
- A governance proposal to fund Aave Labs with stablecoins and AAVE tokens has prompted debate.
Aave has surpassed $1 trillion in cumulative lending volume, marking a significant milestone for the decentralized finance protocol as institutional participation and tokenized asset markets gain traction.
The figure, confirmed by Aave founder Stani Kulechov, underscores the protocol’s scale at a time when traditional financial firms are increasingly exploring on-chain lending infrastructure.
The protocol currently holds about $27.2 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to DefilLama data, maintaining its position as the largest decentralized lending platform. TVL reflects the total assets deposited into the protocol and serves as a key measure of market share and liquidity.
Launched in 2017, Aave allows users to deposit crypto assets to earn yield while enabling borrowers to access collateralized loans. Its cumulative lending volume represents the total value of loans originated through the protocol over time, offering a broader measure of activity than TVL alone.
Institutional Expansion Gains Momentum Through Horizon Market
Aave’s recent growth has coincided with its push into tokenized real-world assets through Horizon, an Ethereum-based lending market introduced in late 2025. Horizon allows institutions to use tokenized traditional assets as collateral to access on-chain liquidity, and it recently reached $1 billion in total value.
Asset managers, including VanEck, WisdomTree, and Securitize, have been onboarded to the Horizon platform, signaling early institutional adoption. The initiative reflects a broader industry shift toward integrating tokenized securities and traditional financial products into decentralized markets.
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Tokenized real-world assets have become one of the fastest-growing segments within decentralized finance, offering institutions a way to access blockchain-based lending while maintaining exposure to familiar asset classes.
Fee Growth and Governance Debate Shape Protocol Outlook
The protocol has also reported strong revenue generation, collecting more than $83 million in fees over the past 30 days. Rising fee income typically reflects increased borrowing demand and higher overall activity across lending markets.
At the same time, Aave’s governance community is weighing a proposal to allocate up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens to Aave Labs, the development team behind the protocol. The funding is intended to support ecosystem development and expand Aave-branded projects, with revenue expected to flow back to the DAO treasury.
The proposal has drawn mixed reactions, highlighting ongoing debates around treasury management and governance oversight. As institutional adoption expands and new products come online, governance decisions and sustained lending demand are likely to remain central to Aave’s long-term growth trajectory.
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