Grayscale: AAVE Could Surge to $175 in the Next Year

**Crypto Token Valuation Updates: Grayscale, CoinShares Release Forecasts (June 18)** Grayscale Research’s latest June 18 report projects Aave’s native token, AAVE, will hit $175 in a 12-month baseline scenario. The asset management firm explained that as traditional finance valuation models are adopted for decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, AAVE’s current fair value stands between $80 and $100. Grayscale estimates Aave will generate roughly $60 million in net income by 2026, using methodologies including discounted cash flow (DCF), earnings multiples, and comparisons to banks and fintech companies for its analysis. The report also highlights Aave’s revenue trajectory: it’s on pace to grow more than sixfold between 2023 and 2025, with an expected profit margin of around 50%. Key growth drivers cited are Aave’s lending operations, its GHO stablecoin, and institutional-focused products. However, Grayscale warned protocol revenue alone does not guarantee token value, noting that fees are typically allocated to liquidity providers, operational costs, or the protocol’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) rather than directly accruing to token holders—who lack the same legal claim rights as traditional shareholders. Separately, CoinShares applied a comparable long-term valuation framework to Hyperliquid’s HYPE token and Ethereum (ETH). The firm’s baseline scenario forecasts HYPE will reach $147 by 2031, while ETH is projected to hit $4,935 in that same timeframe.