Aave vs. Compound vs. MakerDAO: The Battle of DeFi Giants in 2025! ⚔️📊
In June 2025, Aave, Compound, and MakerDAO remain the three pillars of decentralized finance, each playing its unique role in the ecosystem.
Aave: Leader in decentralized lending and borrowing. Distinguished by its multichain strategy, innovative features (Flash Loans, GHO), and active institutional development (Project Horizon). It has the highest TVL among them.
Compound: One of the oldest and most respected lending protocols. Focuses on algorithmic money markets. Although its TVL is lower than Aave’s, Compound remains a key player known for its reliability.
MakerDAO: The main protocol behind the DAI stablecoin, which is decentralized and over-collateralized. MakerDAO primarily focuses on issuing and managing DAI while providing borrowing opportunities through CDP (Collateralized Debt Positions).
Key differences in 2025:
Focus: Aave is universal lending/borrowing with innovations. Compound is basic money markets. MakerDAO is the stable DAI stablecoin and its collateral.
Liquidity/TVL: Aave dominates in TVL.
Institutional presence: Aave is actively pushing into the institutional sector, while MakerDAO also has an interest in RWAs, and Compound is less focused on this.
All three protocols continue to be critically important for the DeFi ecosystem, but Aave, with its aggressive growth strategy and innovations, clearly maintains its leading position in June 2025.