Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said in a client memo that DeFi could be the sector that helps pull crypto out of its current downturn. His case rests on operating numbers rather than sentiment: Uniswap trading volume often exceeds Coinbase, and Aave has generated more than $100 million in annual revenue. In his view, the next bull cycle may reward projects with real users, real revenue, and measurable value, and DeFi already fits that description.
Protocol cash flow is moving back into focus
Hougan argued that several DeFi protocols have grown beyond early-stage experimentation and now run at meaningful business scale. Even so, token prices have not fully tracked protocol performance. Aave’s token is down about 50% over the past year, while Uniswap’s token has been largely flat over the past five years. He pointed to a structural issue: many DeFi tokens were designed mainly for governance and do not give holders a direct claim on economic value generated by the protocol.
That is why Hougan highlighted a recent governance proposal from Aave Labs. The proposal would send all revenue from Aave-branded products to a DAO treasury controlled by token holders, while also adjusting incentives between developers and the community. If approved, it would create a clearer link between protocol revenue and token value, a shift that could influence how the broader market prices DeFi token models.
Large institutions are making direct DeFi bets
Hougan also pointed to institutional activity as a sign that the sector is changing. BlackRock has listed its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL on Uniswap for on-chain trading and has also bought UNI tokens. That marks BlackRock’s first formal move into DeFi. After the announcement, UNI jumped more than 25% at one point.
Apollo Global Management has also signed a deal with lending protocol Morpho. Under the plan, the firm, which manages $940 billion in assets, intends to acquire up to 90 million MORPHO tokens over four years through public markets and over-the-counter purchases, equal to about 9% of total supply. Morpho currently ranks sixth in DeFi by total value locked, with $5.8 billion in TVL.
Saylor now says crypto winter is here
Separately, Strategy founder Michael Saylor said in an interview with Fox Business that the market is indeed in a “crypto winter,” a notable shift after he said eight months ago that winter would not return. He still argued that this cycle is different from 2018 and 2022. According to Saylor, banks are showing stronger support for Bitcoin than they did four years ago, capital continues to enter the space, and the technical ecosystem keeps advancing.
He also said there are currently 12 cabinet members who support digital assets and innovation, making the policy setting more favorable than in prior cycles. Saylor’s view is that the present downturn will be milder and shorter. Strategy has continued buying Bitcoin, and the company now holds more than 717,000 BTC, keeping its position as the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder.