Aave (AAVE)

Are RWAs Driving Adoption On Rails Built By DeFi? Since October, we have been noting a rapid compression in Defi TVL. Onchain capital markets have moved in two different directions. Traditional DeFi has contracted sharply. Tokenized RWAs have expanded - from a much smaller base, but at a materially higher growth rate. The shift since October: > Total DeFi TVL: $155B → $95B (-39%) > RWA Active DeFi TVL: $1B → ~$2B (2x) > RWA Market Cap: ~$3B → ~$22B (7x) It is a measurable divergence in where new capital is forming - and how risk is being priced onchain. Decline of DeFi TVL The ~$60B contraction in DeFi TVL reflects multiple dynamics: - Deleveraging in overcollateralised lending markets - Declining AMM liquidity as incentives faded - Reduced demand for yield aggregators A higher real world rate environment -> reduced appeal of speculative yields Much of the DeFi growth from 2020–2022 was incentive-driven. Liquidity mining, governance token emissions, and reflexive leverage cycles supported elevate

Crypto social obituaries are a genre now. Farcaster and Lens both change hands, everyone lines up to declare it dead. But they're pattern-matching to the wrong thing. The first wave didn't fail because of crypto. It failed for the same reason Mastodon and Nostr never broke out. Users don't migrate for ideology. Portability doesn't solve cold start. That's just how social networks work. Meanwhile something nobody expected is working: social financial networks. Systems where the point isn't followers or engagement. It's coordinating information, capital, and collective belief. Polymarket is arguably crypto's most successful social product and looks nothing like a traditional social network. And right when things look bleakest, something novel emerges. Moltbook recently launched. A social network for AI agents where humans are observers. In days, agents created religions, governance systems, manifestos, revenue strategies. What if the next breakout social network on blockchains isn't for humans at all? Co

Are you sad about Aave? 🤺💣💥

⚠️ If the Aave proposal passes: - Aave gives up platform neutrality → hands the lending infra narrative to @Morpho and @eulerfinance - Fintechs won’t build on infra that competes with them - Startups won’t raise where they can be cannibalized The ecosystem evaporates. DAO treasury becomes Aave Labs’ cookie jar and sole funding source. With 100% rev share: - No equity, no real skin in the game - No meaningful employee incentives - No external growth capital Competing with your ecosystem is platform suicide. We built Aave Kit as an independent ecosystem product. Under this structure, staying makes no sense. We would leave. Others will too. Aave is betting the house on a new model while discarding the one that works. They called it: “Aave Will Win.” The most ironic outcome is the most likely.

The "Aave Will Win" Snapshot vote is live. Aave Labs made one change: softened V3 deprecation from "should" to "could" and removed the 8-12 month migration timeline. Everything else went to vote unchanged: - Still bundled (many delegates asked to unbundle) - No accountability report - No AAVE holdings disclosure - No KPIs per product - Revenue deductions still at Labs' sole discretion Same $51M ask. NAY is leading. But ACI traced 663K voting power to wallets connected to Aave founding infrastructure. That's enough to win the vote alone. They are yet to vote.

Morpho created more markets in 2026 alone than Aave has in its entire history on Ethereum. 🦋6,000+ markets. ⛓️15+ chains. And the curve is accelerating. This is what permissionless lending looks like. Dune dashboard linked below⤵️ https://t.co/0IA9GDsLAQ