Standard Chartered has identified Aave as a potential beneficiary of tokenized assets moving into decentralized finance, saying the largest DeFi lending protocol could rebuild its position as a dominant onchain lending platform.
In a research note published June 24, Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said the protocol faces headwinds from recent price declines and the April KelpDAO cybertheft, which resulted in a $292 million loss. That incident contributed to a decline in Aave’s lending market share as assets exited the platform.
“Despite recent setbacks, we are bullish on the outlook for Aave, the largest [DeFi] lending protocol,” Kendrick wrote. “We think both of those negatives are poised to fade.”
Aave’s deposit base reached $75 billion in October 2025, a scale equivalent to the 30th-largest US bank. Standard Chartered expects deposits to recover as tokenized assets, particularly real-world assets (RWAs), become more widely used as collateral and liquidity sources within DeFi.
The bank previously forecast that assets locked in DeFi could reach $2.7 trillion by 2030, driven by RWAs and crypto-native assets. That thesis underpins the bullish case for Aave, which would capture a portion of inflows as tokenized markets mature.
Standard Chartered also identified Uniswap as a possible trading hub for tokenized markets based on its scale, brand, and operational history. The decentralized exchange could serve as a price discovery mechanism for RWA tokens moving through DeFi.
Kendrick signaled that the protocol has moved past the April incident. “We forecast significant upside for digital asset token prices into year-end, and we think Aave has moved beyond the April incident,” he said.
Deposit Recovery Thesis
Standard Chartered’s analysis hinges on the adoption of tokenized assets as collateral in lending protocols. As institutional and retail participants bring tokenized versions of traditional assets onchain, Aave could see inflows that restore its deposit base to prior highs and attract new capital.
The timing of the research note aligns with growing institutional interest in tokenization, though Standard Chartered did not specify a timeline for when tokenized assets would meaningfully move into DeFi lending or quantify expected deposit recovery amounts for Aave.
The protocol remains the largest DeFi lending platform by design, but recent market conditions have tested its market share. A sustained recovery would depend on both broader digital asset price appreciation and the successful onboarding of tokenized collateral at scale.
