Grayscale analysts consider the AAVE token to be underestimated, setting a benchmark price for the coming year at $179.11, implying a 132% increase from current values of around $75. Fair capitalization of the project is estimated by experts at $1.2-1.5 billion, applying multiplier 20-25x to the expected revenue of the protocol of $60 million for 2026. The baseline scenario is based on growth in the Stablecoin market, Horizon partnerships, deposit returns, user inflows and the launch of institutional solutions on V4 architecture.

Grayscale emphasizes that the DeFi sector has transformed from a speculative to a full-fledged industry with real cash flows, generating $25 billion in commissions since 2023. Declining price multipliers in the lending segment make asset valuations like AAVE particularly appealing. Earlier in June, the Aave developers tightened their listing standards after an incident involving a token called rsETH that could have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in bad debt.