Bitwise's Perspective on How Aave Might Contribute to the End of Cryptocurrency Downturn

Despite enduring fragility in Bitcoin's sentiment after a significant dip from its peak price, Matt Hougan, Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer, suggests that decentralized finance (DeFi) could steer the market out of the bear phase. He cites a governance proposal by Aave Labs titled "Aave Will Win" as an example of the new DeFi phase. Aave, along with protocols like Uniswap, operates as serious businesses with substantial revenues. However, DeFi tokens have struggled, largely due to their design as governance tokens without a direct claim on protocol earnings. Hougan notes that Aave's proposal to direct all revenue from its branded products to the DAO treasury may transform the token from a governance-only role to an asset with a direct claim on revenues, potentially leading other assets to follow suit.