Aave may reach $3,500 by 2030 due to DeFi growth, predicts StanChart

Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick highlights Aave's resilience and growth potential in decentralized finance.

Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered has initiated coverage on Aave, forecasting a remarkable price target of $3,500 by 2030. This projection indicates a potential increase of nearly 50 times from the current price of around $70, positioning Aave for substantial growth as decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to expand.

Kendrick emphasized that Aave has successfully recovered from the setbacks caused by the April KelpDAO exploit, which had previously impacted its market share. He noted that assets are beginning to return to the platform, allowing Aave to regain its footing in the competitive DeFi landscape.

The forecast is bolstered by expectations that the market for tokenized assets in DeFi will grow 37-fold by the end of the decade, which could significantly enhance Aave's lending activities and overall revenue. Kendrick remarked, "We believe Aave has moved beyond the effects of the April cyber theft as assets are beginning to return to the platform," underscoring the protocol's resilience and leadership in on-chain lending.

The KelpDAO incident, where hackers exploited vulnerabilities to steal approximately $290 million, had left Aave facing potential losses of around $230 million and triggered a wave of withdrawals. Despite this, Kendrick likened Aave to a decentralized bank, highlighting its capacity to operate autonomously without traditional banking structures.

In October 2025, Aave managed about $75 billion in deposits, a figure that would rank it among the top banks in the U.S. Kendrick also mentioned the possibility of reviving Aave's token buyback program, which could further enhance its growth prospects. The Horizon initiative, aimed at facilitating lending against tokenized real-world assets, may attract more traditional financial institutions to the platform.

Despite recent downturns in the cryptocurrency market, Aave's value has seen a 5.6% increase in the past 24 hours, currently trading around $76. Kendrick's report suggests that as capital flows back into DeFi, Aave is poised to be a major beneficiary of this trend.