AAVE vs SKY
Aave and Sky (formerly Maker) scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
AAVE scores 156 of 250 and ranks 18th of 251. SKY scores 141 and ranks 30th. AAVE leads by 15 points, which is a real gap, though small enough that one variable moving would close much of it. AAVE takes 11 of the 25 variables, SKY takes 7, and 7 are level.
The framework rates AAVE HOLD and SKY CAUTIOUS HOLD. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
3 variables separate them by 3 points or more. AAVE is clear on Supply Inflation (9 against 3), Exchange Depth (8 against 4) and Regulatory Safety (8 against 4).
Both score 3 or below on BTC Alpha Potential. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
AAVE is valued at $2.65B against $1.86B for SKY, a 1.4x difference. The larger of the two also scores higher, so the market and the framework agree on the ordering here.
AAVE trades 74.1% below its all-time high and SKY 21.2% below its own. Recovering the high needs 3.9x from AAVE and 1.3x from SKY, which is the same statement read as the return each one has to produce.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 7 | 8 | SKY +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 5 | 7 | SKY +2 | |
| P/S Multiple | 8 | 7 | AAVE +1 | |
| Real Staking Yield | 6 | 6 | level |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 9 | 3 | AAVE +6 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 9 | 9 | level | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 9 | 9 | level | |
| Buyback and Burn | 4 | 4 | level |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 7 | 5 | AAVE +2 | |
| Insider Selling | 6 | 6 | level | |
| Holder Concentration | 4 | 3 | AAVE +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 3 | 5 | SKY +2 | |
| Active Users | 6 | 4 | AAVE +2 | |
| Developer Activity | 4 | 6 | SKY +2 | |
| Network Growth | 6 | 6 | level |
Position
| Market Share | 8 | 7 | AAVE +1 | |
| Competitive Moat | 7 | 6 | AAVE +1 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 8 | 8 | level | |
| Exchange Depth | 8 | 4 | AAVE +4 | |
| Social Mindshare | 5 | 3 | AAVE +2 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 8 | 4 | AAVE +4 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 7 | 5 | AAVE +2 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 2 | 3 | SKY +1 | |
| Team Execution | 4 | 5 | SKY +1 | |
| Treasury Runway | 6 | 8 | SKY +2 |
Bars read outward from the centre: AAVE to the left, SKY to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| AAVE | SKY | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $171.60 | $0.0795 |
| Market cap | $2.65B | $1.86B |
| Circulating | 96.5% | 99.9% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.04x | 1x |
| Off all-time high | -74.1% | -21.2% |
| To recover the high | 3.9x | 1.3x |
| Total value locked | $14.49B | $6.02B |
| Network | Ethereum | Ethereum |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
AAVE · HOLD
V4 multi-chain expansion, Grayscale/Bitwise ETF filings, CLARITY Act DeFi safe harbor, Horizon $1B target
KelpDAO bad debt resolution, Morpho $175M raise competitive threat, governance centralization (top 3 = 58% votes)
SKY · CAUTIOUS HOLD
Buyback restoration ~Nov 2026 when Solvency Reserve hits $125M (currently $70.6M). Revenue still growing (Q1 record $61M net). SSR cut improves margins. Remaining 3 Stars. S&P upgrade path. Obex Cohort 2.
Validated RISKS: Rune SPOF (80% governance, emergency proposals bypass process). Net inflationary ~4.4%/yr at current rates. Revenue $246M net but SKY captures only $97M (holders rev). TVL declining. not MiCA-compliant (Jul 2026 deadline). $756M USDC in unverifiable EOA. 35% of USDS is just wrapped USDC. All financials self-reported by Sky Foundation.
Common questions
- Is AAVE or SKY the better investment?
- On this framework AAVE scores higher: 156 against 141 of 250, and it is rated HOLD against CAUTIOUS HOLD. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and AAVE still wins 11 of the 25 individual variables against SKY.
- What is the biggest difference between AAVE and SKY?
- Supply Inflation. AAVE scores 9 of 10 there and SKY scores 3, a gap of 6 points on a single variable.
- Which is bigger, AAVE or SKY?
- AAVE is valued at $2.65B and SKY at $1.86B on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.