Aave positioned to capture tokenized asset growth in DeFi: Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered says Aave could benefit as tokenized assets increasingly enter DeFi, helping it regain leadership as an onchain lending platform. The bank’s digital assets research head said growing use of tokenized collateral and liquidity could bring more deposits to Aave and support lending activity. The note argues recent weaknesses in Aave stemmed from falling crypto prices and the April KelpDAO cybertheft, which reportedly triggered withdrawals and hurt market share. Standard Chartered expects both pressures to fade, with crypto prices likely rising into year-end and Aave past the incident’s impact. It also said Aave’s October 2025 deposit base of about $75 billion would place it among the largest U.S. banks by deposits. More broadly, the bank sees DeFi growth reaching $2.7 trillion by 2030, driven by tokenized real-world assets and other crypto assets.
