Aave, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has achieved record net deposits of $33.4 billion, surpassing the previous peak set during the 2021 bull market. This milestone was reached following the launch of Aave v4 in 2024, which expanded the platform's capabilities by adding new markets including Sonic, Mantle, Linea, BOB, Spider Chain, and Aptos. The increase in deposits reflects a broader trend in the DeFi sector, which has seen a surge in total value locked (TVL), reaching approximately $124.77 billion, a 133.8% increase. In December alone, decentralized exchanges (DEXes) recorded an all-time high trading volume of $478 billion, indicating a robust recovery and growth in the DeFi ecosystem.