How Aave’s stablecoin GHO is core to its plan to 10X its revenue
Episode 22 of The Crypto Beat was recorded with The Block Editor-In-Chief Tim Copeland and Aave-Chan Initiative Founder Marc Zeller.Listen below, and subscribe to The Crypto Beat on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Twitch or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please send feedback and revision requests to [email protected] Block's Editor-in-Chief, Tim Copeland, was joined by Aave-Chan Initiative Founder Marc Zeller.In this episode, Copeland and Zeller discussed Aave's decentralization, the GHO stablecoin and the ACI's "most important proposal" of a six-month, $1 million dollar per week buyback program.Zeller said that the GHO stablecoin — part of the Aave ecosystem — did a 10X in supply in 2024. He said the goal is to see it grow 5X in 2025, aiming for a 1 billion supply. He noted that the stablecoin is a much more profitable part of the whole ecosystem where 1 GHO minted brings in as much revenue as $10 borrowed on Aave. If the 5X target is hit, that’ll bring in half of the Aave DAO revenue.“So it's extremely interesting because we have billions and billions and billions of borrowing volumes and active loans in Aave, but we only have 200 plus million GHO borrowed in Aave and GHO is already 10% of the revenue of the protocol,” he said.Plus, for every dollar the protocol makes on supporting lending and borrowing of other stablecoins, they can invest that in GHO — essentially using their competitors’ strengths against them. “How do we 10X the Aave revenue?” he asked. “The answer is growing GHO.”OUTLINE 00:00 - Introduction 05:15 - The most Important Proposal 07:32 - DeFi Isn't Dead — It's Maturing 10:43 - Buybacks 17:16 - Liquidity Incentives and Yield Optimization 25:23 - The Horizon Plan 32:49 - GHO and Stablecoin adoption 38:42 - Embracing Competition to Grow GHO 40:14 - Bitcoin-Backed Loans 43:09 - Bullish Outlook on Ethereum 48:12 - Building on Mainnet vs. L2 51:31 - Fixing Ethereum 54:10 - Outro and Final Thoughts The Block Newsletters The Block's newsletters bring you the latest news and analysis of the fast-moving crypto and DeFi markets. To subscribe, visit theblock.co/newslettersGuest links: Marc Zeller - https://x.com/lemiscate Aave-Chan Initiative - https://x.com/AavechanAre you hiring in crypto? Use Campus to quickly find your best candidates with our challenging Crypto Assessment Test. Faster hiring, stronger teams.Sign up for a trial today: theblock.co/campusDisclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.