Aave deposits reach $33.4B in new milestone

Net deposits on Aave (CRYPTO:AAVE), a leading decentralised finance (DeFi) platform, have reached $33.4 billion in 2024, surpassing levels seen during the 2021 bull market.

This marks an all-time high for the protocol as DeFi continues its resurgence.

In 2024, Aave expanded its presence by integrating with BNB Chain, Scroll, ZKsync Era, and Ether.fi.

The platform is also considering adding new markets in 2025, pending community approval, including Sonic, Mantle (CRYPTO:MNT), Linea, BOB, Spider Chain, and Aptos (CRYPTO:APT).

The DeFi sector has seen significant growth this year, with total value locked increasing by 150% to approximately $130 billion, according to DefiLlama.

This resurgence was largely driven by expectations of pro-crypto policies following Donald Trump’s electoral victory in November.

DeFi tokens rallied by up to 30% immediately after the election results, as investors anticipated comprehensive legislation enabling revenue sharing through token fee mechanisms.

Charlie Sherry, a cryptocurrency analyst at BTC Markets, explained that DeFi projects had previously avoided such mechanisms due to concerns about potential litigation from regulatory bodies.

Contributing to the sector’s growth were advancements like liquid restaking protocols, including EigenLayer (CRYPTO:EIGEN), and the development of Bitcoin DeFi products such as wrappers and layer-2 networks.

Security in the DeFi sector also improved, with hacks decreasing by 40% compared to 2023, according to blockchain security firm Hacken.

This was attributed to stronger cryptographic measures, protocol updates, and enhanced bridge designs.

However, monetary losses from centralised exchange breaches nearly doubled, exceeding $694 million during the same period.

At the time of reporting, the Aave price was $322.62.