Aave, the leading decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform, has experienced record-breaking growth, surpassing $3 trillion in lifetime deposits and $29 billion in active loans. The total value locked (TVL) in Aave reached an all-time high of $40 billion, reflecting its expanding footprint in the decentralized lending market. This surge coincides with the broader expansion of the DeFi lending category, which has become the second-largest segment in the DeFi ecosystem. Aave dominates this growth, controlling roughly two-thirds of the market and outperforming its closest rival, Morpho, by nearly six times. The platform’s financial scale is now comparable to major commercial banks, with institutions like Barclays and Ethena using Aave to earn yield on their Ethereum holdings. Aave’s native token, AAVE, has rallied 138% since April, and founder Stani Kulechov has set an ambitious target of $100 billion in net deposits by year-end. As the DeFi sector matures, the challenge for Aave and other protocols will be to maintain innovation, security, and regulatory compliance to ensure long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive market.