DeFi Fees Rebound to $600M, Led by Uniswap and Aave as Buybacks Gain Momentum

Decentralized finance is seeing a notable revival, with protocol fees climbing to $600 million in September—almost double the $340 million low in March. Traders are rotating back to top-tier projects, signaling renewed confidence in fundamentally strong protocols.

Uniswap and Aave led the charge, while Ethena, a synthetic-dollar stablecoin project, also emerged as a top revenue generator, according to The Block Research.

Protocols are increasingly designing tokenomics that benefit holders directly.

Uniswap has laid the foundation for its long-anticipated fee switch, which will divert a portion of trading revenue to UNI holders once v4 launches on Unichain. Earlier this year, governance approved $165 million in foundation funding to support this initiative.
Aave adopted a framework to channel surplus revenue into regular buybacks and its ecosystem reserve. This ongoing accrual system links platform usage directly to AAVE token value, reinforcing a stronger connection between adoption and holder returns.
Ethena converts protocol fees into yield for holders through its USDe and sUSDe stablecoins. Integrations with platforms like Aave and Pendle further increase activity and revenue flow, cementing Ethena’s position as one of DeFi’s leading revenue-generating projects.

While the tokens themselves have broadly followed market trends rather than outperforming, the combination of rising fees and improved tokenomics provides a tangible framework for evaluating DeFi projects beyond pure market hype. UNI, AAVE, and ENA are emerging as key tokens to watch.

Questions remain about sustainability. Will fees hold if volumes shift or distributions are diluted by treasury priorities? Or will the next market cycle shift attention back to meme tokens?