- The strategy focuses on a major protocol upgrade, real-world asset lending and mobile adoption.
- Aave V4 aims to unify cross-chain liquidity and simplify development.
- Horizon aims to accelerate growth in tokenized real-world asset markets through institutional partners.
Aave is embarking on its next phase of expansion as US regulatory uncertainty surrounding the decentralized finance protocol diminishes.
Founder and CEO Stani Kulechov detailed what he described as a “2026 Master Plan” on December 17, a day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formally dropped the long-term investigation into the platform.
The update comes after what Aave described as its strongest year yet, with 2025 marked by record net deposits and billions of dollars in activity processed through the protocol.
With oversight no longer hanging over the project, Aave’s leadership is now focused on scaling the technology, expanding the institutional footprint and further pushing consumer-facing products.
According to Kulechov message on XAave’s 2026 strategy rests on three core priorities: a major protocol upgrade, the expansion of tokenized real-world asset markets, and broader user adoption via a mobile app.
Aave V4 upgrade
The first pillar of the roadmap is Aave V4, the next major version of the lending protocol.
The upgrade is designed to introduce cross-chain liquidity, a modular architecture, and deeper customizations for developers and partners.
Aave Labs, the core development team, had already done that published a V4 launch roadmap in September, detailing the final stages of testing and assessment.
A central feature is the Cross-Chain Liquidity Layer, which builds on previous versions of the protocol to address fragmented liquidity across different blockchains.
Under the new design, liquidity pools on each network will be reorganized into capital hubs, topped by specialized spokes to support tailored credit markets for specific asset types.
The structure is intended to support significantly larger capital volumes while simplifying the way new products are launched on Aave.
The upgrade also includes new cross-chain interfaces and a revamped developer experience, which Aave expects will make integrations easier for fintech companies, enterprises and other large-scale users.
Horizon and institutional markets
The second focus area is Horizon, Aave’s decentralized credit market for tokenized real-world assets.
Horizon is positioned as a gateway for traditional financial institutions to access the DeFi infrastructure while bringing off-chain assets on-chain.
Horizon launched on August 27 and $50 million exceeded in deposits as of September 1, with most of the early liquidity coming in in RLUSD and USDC. Since then, net deposits have grown to approximately $550 million.
Aave plans to accelerate Horizon’s growth by 2026, with the goal of taking deposits above $1 billion.
The strategy includes expanding partnerships with established financial players, including Circle, Ripple, Franklin Templeton and VanEck.
Through these partnerships, Aave plans to onboard major global asset classes and expand its reach into a real asset market estimated at more than $500 trillion.
Aave App and User Growth
The third pillar of the roadmap focuses on consumer adoption via the Aave app. The app, which launched in mid-November, offers a banking-style savings experience designed to make decentralized lending more accessible to non-crypto-native users.
The app is currently available on the Apple App Store and is expected to be rolled out more widely next year.
Aave is targeting a user base of one million as it looks to gain a foothold in the global mobile fintech market, which is estimated to be around $2 trillion.
These pressures reflect Aave’s view that long-term scaling depends on adoption at the product level, not just liquidity at the protocol level.
