Aave Poised to Capture Tokenized Asset Growth in DeFi

Standard Chartered, a global banking giant, has identified Aave as a potential beneficiary of tokenized assets in decentralized finance (DeFi). According to their research note, Geoff Kendrick, the bank's global head of digital assets research, believes that active tokenized assets in DeFi could drive more deposits into Aave. Despite recent setbacks, including a cybertheft incident involving KelpDAO and a decline in digital asset prices, Kendrick is bullish on Aave's outlook.

The bank notes that Aave's performance has been weighed down by these factors, but expects them to fade as digital asset token prices recover and the April cybertheft incident becomes less of an issue. Standard Chartered forecasts significant upside for digital asset token prices into year-end, which could positively impact Aave.

The bank highlights that Aave's October 2025 deposit base of about $75 billion would have ranked alongside the 30th-largest US bank by deposits. Kendrick expects Aave to recover part of this scale as tokenized assets become more widely used as collateral and sources of liquidity within DeFi.