Aave rally makes DeFi lending look more like a bank to investors

- Aave is rallying because Standard Chartered finally realized DeFi lending looks suspiciously like a bank, if the bank ran on code and not middlemen. AAVE hit $94.32, proving that "automated-bank" is the new buzzword for institutional money trying to figure out how to buy yield without filling out paperwork. Stani Kulechov drew a hard line: revenue flows to the DAO, not Aave Labs, so don’t treat this like corporate equity. It’s a hash manifest of governance, fees, and tokenholder rights. Kraken’s sniffing around for a strategic stake, which means the meat wallets are getting ready to pay up for regulated distribution. The market is debating whether open infrastructure can be valued with traditional math while keeping the levers in decentralized hands. Spoiler: it’s messy, but at least there’s no HR department to fire you.