Aave DAO’s Bold Buyback Play Rakes in $2.6M—DeFi Treasury Strategy Pays Off
Aave DAO just schooled traditional finance with a buyback maneuver that’s sitting on $2.6 million in paper gains. No hedge fund drama—just code executing profits.
How it worked: The decentralized autonomous organization deployed treasury reserves to repurchase its own tokens—turning deflationary pressure into a masterclass in capital efficiency. Take notes, Wall Street.
The kicker? This isn’t some theoretical ‘hodl’ strategy. Real gains, real protocol-owned liquidity. Meanwhile, your bank’s savings account still yields 0.5%.
One question lingers: Will they take profits or double down? In DeFi, even treasuries ape into their own ecosystem.
Aave strengthens DeFi growth
The buyback initiative aligns with Aave’s broader growth strategy of cementing its status in the DeFi sector.
Last month, the protocol surpassed $50 billion in net deposits, positioning it among the top 50 banks in the US.
The protocol also accounts for around 25% of the total DeFi market, considering the total value of assets locked on the platform is around $33 billion as of press time, according to DeFiLlama data.
Moreover, Seb Pulido, Director of Institutional & DeFi Business at Aave Labs, highlighted the extent of Aave’s market dominance by pointing out that around 60% of Bitcoin users in DeFi use Aave to gain access to dollar-denominated assets.
This commanding position has significantly bolstered Aave’s financial position.
Crypto platform Blocmates noted that Aave generated $86 million in 2024, a 280% increase year-over-year.
However, the platform is poised to surpass that figure this year as its annualized revenue stands at approximately $100 million as of mid-2025.
Looking forward, Blocmate predicted that Aave’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) could exceed \$150 million by year-end.
This growth is expected to be driven by the protocol’s upcoming projects, including Aave V4, the full deployment of Chainlink’s SVR, and increased regulatory clarity in the US.
