Aave’s TVL reaches $18.05B – But THESE 2 signals flash caution

Aave [AAVE] surged by almost 25% over 24 hours after protocol deposits and derivatives positioning strengthened across the board.

However, the aforementioned rally opened a split across markets. While top traders remained long-heavy, broader positioning and short-term spot activity highlighted some resistance.

Is Aave’s TVL supporting AAVE?

Aave’s Total Value Locked [TVL] rose on 19th August, hitting $18.05 billion. The uptick suggested showed that more capital had entered the protocol during AAVE’s rally.

However, several days of growth could not establish whether those deposits represented lasting demand or not.

Meanwhile, net user incentives climbed to their highest level since December 2025. To put it in numbers, Aave has so far generated approximately $50,270 in incentives in August.

Together, rising deposits and incentives strengthened protocol activity as AAVE gained by 25%. The derivatives market, however, highlighted a lack of agreement among traders.

Are AAVE traders still bullish?

Buying dominance has grown across the market as traders maintained a bullish position.

This can be measured through the Long/Short Ratios.

At the time of writing, the ratio among Binance and OKX traders had readings of 1.46 and 1.15, respectively, indicating a bullish position.

The two exchanges control roughly $524.85 billion in assets, with Binance accounting for $361.95 billion by itself.

Across the broader market though, the ratio was below 1 and favored sellers. This sign of growing selling pressure could weigh on AAVE’s price.

Worth noting, however, that the Open Interest-Weighted Funding Rate had a positive reading of about 0.0220%.

What do minimal spot flows imply?

At the time of writing, the 24-hour spot flow revealed that more AAVE was being sold than bought, resulting in a $3.4 million net outflow.

Interestingly, this might just be profit-taking rather than sustained selling pressure. Especially since the three and five-day netflows remained negative and indicated that buying had outweighed selling over those periods.

For now, it is worth looking at whether the selling pressure persists over the weekend. If seller dominance continues, investors will need to position themselves accordingly.

• AAVE gained roughly 25% as Aave’s Total Value Locked [TVL] reached $18.05 billion.
• Three-day and five-day Spot Netflows still showed broader accumulation.