Two of finance’s biggest names have converged on the same crypto bet. Standard Chartered and Grayscale both see strong upside for Aave (AAVE), the decentralized finance (DeFi) lender, despite a rough year for the token.

The dual signal arrives with the altcoin near $82.69, up about 0.3% on the day and 12% over the past week. Both firms tie the upside to tokenized assets moving on-chain.

Two Heavyweights, One DeFi Pick

AAVE, like the broader crypto market, posted significant losses in 2026, with the token down roughly 43% year-to-date. Selling pressure intensified in April after the KelpDAO exploit.

Yet, the analyst case has turned firmly bullish. Earlier this week, Standard Chartered put forth a $3,500 target for end-2030. The call implies a roughly 50x gain.

“We forecast significant upside for digital asset token prices into year-end, and we think Aave has moved beyond the April incident. Longer-term, we expect the value of tokenized assets active in DeFi to increase 37x between now and end-2030, driving more deposits to the platform,” Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, said.

Grayscale named AAVE among 15 protocols that are “attractively valued.” Its base one-year target is $179, with Grayscale pegging upside over 100%, and a bull case around $271.

It flagged the proposed CLARITY Act as a catalyst that could help unlock the value.

Aave’s Fundamentals Behind the Conviction

DefiLlama data supports the case. Aave holds about $12.2 billion in deposits, leading Morpho at $7.06 billion and Spark at $5.3 billion.

The gap widens on active loans. The protocol’s $10.9 billion loan book runs roughly three times Morpho’s $3.7 billion and dwarfs Spark’s $1.6 billion.

That lead holds despite a sector retreat. CryptoRank data shows active loans across major lenders down 42.3% this year, from $35.3 billion to $20.4 billion. Yet, Aave maintained its lead.

Newer infrastructure is gaining traction, too. Aave V4 crossed $200 million in deposits within three months of its launch, roughly doubling each month.

While Aave still towers over its rivals, it cannot escape a shrinking market. Its total value locked (TVL) fell sharply after the Kelp DAO exploit.

Industry-wide DeFi TVL has slid through 2026, falling 39%. Whether tokenized assets scale as analysts expect will shape AAVE’s next move.

Source: BeInCrypto