Standard Chartered initiated coverage on Aave (CRYPTO: AAVE) Tuesday with a 50x price target of $3,500 by end of 2030, projecting it will outperform both Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).
Why Standard Chartered Sees Aave's Crash As A Bottom, Not A Breakdown Analyst Geoffrey Kendrick framed a $292 million exploit in April, which saw stolen funds deposited as collateral on Aave, as a trough rather than ongoing damage.
He pointed to a slight uptick in both metrics since early June, alongside founder Stani Kulechov's announcement that Aave is developing a new risk framework, as early signs of recovery.
The protocol's AAVE token buyback program, which had repurchased 1.3% of total supply before pausing the day after the exploit, remains a lever Standard Chartered expects to resume.
The $2.7 Trillion DeFi Bet Behind The Price Target Kendrick's thesis rests on Aave's business model being linear: deposits drive loans, loans drive fee income, and fee income drives market cap.
