AAVE recently announced its long-term strategic vision for 2026, marking a crucial turning point for the market's largest decentralized lending protocol. Chia to the founding team, AAVE will focus on developing its platform based on three core pillars: AAVE V4, Horizon – a Tokenize real-world asset marketplace (RWA) specifically for institutions, and the AAVE mobile app, with the ambition to bring trillions of dollars worth of assets onto the blockchain and attract millions of new users to DeFi.
According to information cited by Mars Finance, on December 17th, the founder and CEO of AAVE posted on social media that this year has been the most successful in the protocol's history. Total net deposits on AAVE peaked at approximately $75 billion, while cumulative fee revenue reached $885 million. This figure accounts for 52% of the total fee revenue of the entire DeFi lending sector, far exceeding the combined total of the next five largest competitors. Notably, AAVE 's scale is now comparable to that of around 50 top banks in the US financial center, holding 59% of the DeFi lending market share and accounting for 61% of the total active DeFi loan balance in the entire market.
With DeFi becoming increasingly mature and attracting attention from traditional financial institutions, AAVE has defined its next-phase strategy around redefining its Vai , not just as a lending protocol, but as a comprehensive decentralized finance infrastructure. AAVE V4 is XEM the biggest overhaul to date, aiming to transform AAVE into the infrastructure platform for all on-chain financial activities. This version has been completely redesigned to handle trillions of dollars worth of assets, while also being more flexible in integrating new financial products to meet the needs of both individual and institutional users. In 2026, AAVE plans to continue its extensive collaborations with fintech companies, DAOs, and strategic partners to sustainably expand TVL throughout the year.
Furthermore, Horizon is XEM as a "bridge" leading AAVE to its next trillion-dollar asset target. It's an institutional-level RWA marketplace designed to allow eligible institutions to borrow stablecoins by collateralizing Tokenize assets such as US Treasury bonds and other traditional credit instruments. With Tokenize real-world assets becoming a major trend in the crypto market, Horizon is expected to help AAVE become a leading destination for institutional Capital , while creating a genuine connection between traditional finance and DeFi.
