Grayscale Research has identified five decentralized finance tokens—Hyperliquid (HYPE), Aave (AAVE), Uniswap (UNI), Sky (SKY), and Maple (MAPLE)—that it believes offer real value as crypto markets increasingly reward revenue and cash flow over speculation. In a report published June 16, Grayscale argues that since crypto markets have fallen since January, investors can now value many tokens like financial assets rather than commodities. The firm notes that since 2023, DeFi protocols have generated nearly $25 billion in cumulative fees from real users, driving rising on-chain fee revenue across exchanges, lending, staking, and derivatives. Price multiples across DeFi lending have also compressed, indicating maturing business models at attractive valuations. Grayscale emphasizes that protocol revenue alone does not set token value; instead, mechanisms like burns, buybacks, rebates, and staking determine how much reaches holders. By that test, Uniswap and Hyperliquid stand out, returning almost all earnings to holders. Hyperliquid routes trading fees into buying and burning HYPE, helping it reach the top 10 by market cap. Aave is highlighted as the largest DeFi lender, with its token undervalued near $75. The report concludes that the market is repricing from narrative to fundamentals, favoring protocols with real revenue, disciplined capital allocation, and transparent token economics.

Key facts

• Grayscale names HYPE, AAVE, UNI, SKY, MAPLE as tokens with strong relative value based on fundamentals.
• Defi protocols generated nearly $25 billion in cumulative fees since 2023 from real users.
• Uniswap and Hyperliquid return almost all earnings to token holders through transparent payout models.
• HYPE ranks 10th-largest crypto; AAVE called undervalued near $75.
• Market repricing from narrative to fundamentals favors revenue-generating protocols.