Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the DeFi protocol must move beyond crypto-native lending to remain competitive and capture a larger market. He argued that reliance on leveraged trading and core crypto assets limits long-term growth. Kulechov outlined plans to expand into real-world assets, institutional lending and consumer financial products, supported by Aave’s upcoming V4 upgrade. The strategy also includes allowing independent teams to build commercial products while keeping the core protocol decentralized.