Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, has unveiled an ambitious long-term roadmap outlining how the largest DeFi lending protocol aims to evolve into the foundational credit layer of the onchain economy. The announcement comes at a sensitive moment, as governance tensions within the Aave DAO continue to intensify.
Kulechov, who also serves as CEO of Avara, the parent company of Aave Labs and the protocol’s primary development contributor, shared the roadmap on X earlier this week. The strategy centers around three core pillars: Aave V4, Horizon, and the Aave App.
According to Kulechov, Aave is entering a phase capable of onboarding the “next trillions of dollars in assets” and millions of new users to blockchain-based finance. “Aave will win,” he stated, emphasizing that the protocol is “still at day zero compared to what lies ahead.”
Aave’s Market Dominance and Financial Scale
Aave currently stands as the undisputed leader in DeFi lending, and one of the most profitable onchain protocols overall. Data shows that Aave has:
Processed $3.33 trillion in deposits
Issued nearly $1 trillion in loans
Generated $885 million in fees this year
Captured approximately 59% of the DeFi lending market
This scale underpins Kulechov’s confidence that Aave can serve as the default credit infrastructure for global onchain finance.
Aave V4: Liquidity Unification and Institutional Scale
At the center of the roadmap lies Aave V4, a comprehensive architectural redesign built around a hub-and-spoke liquidity model.
Instead of fragmented liquidity pools spread across multiple chains, Aave V4 will consolidate capital into central liquidity hubs, while enabling specialized “spoke” markets tailored to specific asset classes. This structure is designed to dramatically improve capital efficiency, risk management, and scalability.
Kulechov argues that this design will allow Aave to support trillions of dollars in assets, positioning the protocol as the default liquidity and credit venue for institutions, fintech firms, and global credit markets. Aave V4 will also introduce a robust developer toolkit to accelerate integrations and product deployment across the ecosystem.
Horizon: Bridging Real-World Assets to DeFi Credit
The second pillar, Horizon, serves as Aave’s institutional compliance gateway. Launched earlier this year, Horizon enables institutions to use tokenized U.S. Treasuries and other real-world assets (RWA) as collateral in DeFi lending.
In his December 16 post, Kulechov described Horizon as the bridge for the “next trillion dollars” of capital. Aave is targeting $1 billion in deposits by 2026, supported by partnerships with Circle, Ripple, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and other major financial players.
Horizon has already reached $550 million in net deposits, and Kulechov described it as the fastest-growing RWA-based lending platform in DeFi, reinforcing Aave’s push toward institutional adoption.
Aave App: Consumer Gateway to DeFi
The third pillar, the Aave App, is designed as a consumer-facing gateway to decentralized finance. The app integrates Push, a zero-fee fiat on/off-ramp for stablecoins that covers over 70% of global capital markets.
Kulechov positions the Aave App as a direct competitor to traditional fintech products, arguing that DeFi can offer superior savings, lending, and money management solutions. The full release is planned for early 2026, with an ambitious goal of onboarding Aave’s first one million mainstream users.
Governance Conflict Intensifies Inside Aave DAO
The roadmap was revealed amid escalating governance disputes between Aave Labs and segments of the Aave DAO, centered on long-term strategic control and protocol revenue allocation.
The conflict originated when a DAO delegate raised concerns over Aave Labs integrating CoW Swap into the Aave interface to replace Paraswap, redirecting swap fees away from the DAO treasury. This sparked broader debate over potential “implicit privatization” of DAO value and the blurred boundaries between Aave Labs’ products and DAO-owned assets.
Most recently, an AAVE token holder proposed a controversial “poison pill” mechanism, granting the DAO the right to absorb Aave Labs if conflicts of interest escalate. The proposal aims to strengthen DAO leverage in future disputes involving protocol revenue, branding rights, and core development responsibilities.
Kulechov Responds and SEC Investigation Concludes
Addressing concerns about alignment, Kulechov emphasized that he and his team are among the largest AAVE holders, and have contributed more upgrades and products to the protocol than any other party.
“I’ve read many DAO forum discussions. I want to be clear: no one cares more about Aave than I do,” he wrote. “Open debate is a feature of DeFi governance, not a sign of misalignment.”
The roadmap announcement also follows a major regulatory milestone. Kulechov revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its multi-year investigation into Aave without enforcement action. He framed this outcome as a validation of DeFi’s resilience, reaffirming his belief that “DeFi will win.”
📌 Follow for more in-depth crypto news, DAO governance analysis, and DeFi market insights.
