Grayscale analysts consider the AAVE token to be "undervalued." Their price target for the next year is $179, while it currently trades around $75.

1/ Grayscale Research believes the $AAVE token fair value could rise to ~$175 in one year and is currently undervalued at $75

Top 30 crypto assets age is ~8 years - compare that to the 100+ year average for the constituents currently in the Dow

We're still early

🧵⬇️

— Grayscale (@Grayscale) June 17, 2026

The 12-month forecast includes three scenarios: a base case of $179.11, a bearish case of $90.91, and a bullish case of $270.57. The potential upside from current levels to the target is about 132%.

Source: X.

Grayscale expects that by 2026, the protocol could generate around $60 million in revenue. Analysts believe that an increasing portion of Aave's income will depend on stablecoin activity rather than more volatile crypto assets.

The firm estimates the fair market capitalization of the project to be between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion, applying a multiplier of 20-25x typical for fintech companies.

Source: X.

Grayscale's base case for AAVE is supported by five positive factors: 

  • rapid growth of the stablecoin market;
  • major partnerships with Horizon;
  • return of previously withdrawn deposits;
  • influx of users through the Aave App;
  • launch of new institutional solutions on V4 architecture.

The company views AAVE as an asset with "cash flow" potential, similar to UNI and other DeFi protocol tokens. 

Source: X.

"DeFi is no longer just speculation. Since 2023, decentralized protocols have generated nearly $25 billion in cumulative fees from real users. DEX, lending, staking, derivatives — this is a real industry with steady income," Grayscale noted. 

However, price multiples in the DeFi lending sector have significantly decreased. Overall, the segment maintains differentiated business models and attractive valuations.

It is worth noting that in June, Aave developers revised asset listing standards following an April incident with rsETH that threatened the project with the risk of hopeless debt amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.