After a four-year investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), lending giant Aave has finally received a notice of closure stating "no action recommended." Aave CEO Stani also took the opportunity to publish a lengthy article, "Aave Will Win," revealing the protocol's growth roadmap for 2026. From Aave V4 and the institutional RWA marketplace Horizon to the Aave App for the general public, the goal is to build the world's largest on-chain credit infrastructure layer, driving millions of new users onto the blockchain.
Aave escapes the shadow of SEC enforcement: DeFi will ultimately prevail.
Aave CEO Stani Kulechov posted a letter from the SEC stating that they "do not intend to take enforcement action," marking the official end of the four-year investigation and relieving the Aave team of regulatory concerns.
DeFi has faced unfair regulatory pressure in recent years, and we are excited to put that behind us and enter a new era where developers can truly build the future of finance. DeFi will prevail.
Since US President Trump took office, the SEC has successively dropped or suspended a number of crypto cases, including Uniswap Labs and Gemini , which is seen as a clear signal of the relaxation of US crypto regulation.
Aave's fee revenue exceeded $800 million in 2025, making it comparable in size to the top 50 banks in the United States.
Stani also took the opportunity to release Aave's 2026 outlook , emphasizing that 2025 was Aave's fastest-growing and most successful year: TVL peaked at $75 billion, total deposits processed in protocols reached $3.33 trillion, lending volume approached $1 trillion, lending market share exceeded 59%, and protocol fee revenue reached $885 million for the year.
These figures demonstrate that Aave's scale rivals that of the top 50 banks in the United States, making it the largest and most liquid lending protocol currently available. The AAVE buyback program, fueled by substantial fee revenue, will further strengthen the token's value.
Three major development directions: Aave V4, Horizon, and Aave App
Aave V4: Building a Unified Liquidity Layer for Financial Backbone
Stani pointed out that the most crucial of its three core strategies for 2026 is the launch of Aave V4. V4 will adopt a hub-and-spoke architecture, replacing the previous fragmented multi-pool design with a "main liquidity pool," and supporting different asset types through various Spoke markets.
This change aims to make Aave the preferred source of liquidity for traditional financial and enterprise applications, with the capacity to handle trillions of assets.
( Babylon's Trustless Vaults will add native Bitcoin mortgage lending functionality through Aave )
Horizon: Based on the RWA track, bringing enterprises onto the blockchain.
Continuing Aave's vision for institutions, the protocol also launched Horizon, an RWA lending marketplace designed specifically for institutions, a few months ago. It accepts traditional financial instruments such as US Treasury bonds, credit assets, and even funds as collateral, allowing qualified institutions to borrow stablecoins.
Stani revealed that Horizon currently has $550 million in deposits and expects to surpass $1 billion by 2026.
For Aave to become financial infrastructure, collateral must be expanded to include stocks, ETFs, real estate, accounts receivable, and various fixed-income products. Horizon is the key entry point for bringing trillions of dollars of traditional financial assets onto the blockchain.
Aave App: A mobile entry point targeting the mass market
In addition, Aave will promote adoption through the Aave App and its zero-fee fiat currency conversion tool Push . They position themselves as a DeFi version similar to Cash App or Venmo, providing ordinary users with the best experience of transferring cash to the blockchain.
Stani believes the mobile fintech industry still has potential: "While most apps today are primarily payment-focused, the Aave App has the potential to be a product that changes the way people save and earn."
Stani responds to DAO governance controversy: Aave Labs stands with the protocol.
A recent governance controversy erupted in the Aave community because Aave Labs integrated CoW Swap trading functionality into the Aave front end without consulting the DAO and directed related revenue to a private address instead of the DAO treasury.
This move has sparked external concerns that Aave Labs is misappropriating brands and revenue that rightfully belong to DAO. Community members have recently proposed a " poison pill " similar to those used against hostile takeovers, arguing that DAO should reclaim Aave Labs' trademarks, intellectual property rights, and even company shares, effectively turning Labs into a DAO subsidiary.
In response to this controversy, Stani emphasized in his article: "Aave Labs and its employees are the largest owners of AAVE, and the products we build are designed to capture more value and give back to the DAO."
I have dedicated eight years to building Aave, and I believe that open debate is a characteristic of DeFi governance, not a sign of disagreement.
Aave's ultimate vision: to become the "on-chain credit layer" of global finance.
At the end of the article, Stani also summarized Aave's grand vision for the next few years:
All assets can be tokenized and used as collateral.
Lending will be conducted without intermediaries; the entire financial market will operate on the blockchain.
Aave becomes the foundational liquidity layer for the global credit market.
The next generation of financial products will be built on Aave.
With Aave finally shedding the uncertainty of long-term regulation, the market will usher in the new era that Stani talks about. By connecting institutional and mass markets through Aave V4, Horizon, and the Aave App, it will only get closer and closer to its goal of financial innovation.
This article, titled "SEC's Four-Year Investigation Concludes, Aave CEO Reveals Three Major Development Directions for 2026: DeFi Will Ultimately Win," first appeared on ABMedia, a ABMedia .
