At the TOKEN2049 Singapore conference held on October 7-8, 2026, founders of Aave, Ethena, and Hyperliquid identified their primary market rivals during a panel moderated by Robbie Petersen of a16z crypto.
Stani Kulechov of Aave named traditional banks as the protocol's main competition. Aave intends to expand its lending business through real-world assets and tokenized assets, aiming to surpass traditional borrowing by 2027. The protocol has previously reached liquidity peaks of approximately $76 billion.
Guy Young of Ethena identified Circle as the primary rival, positioning the protocol to compete for market share among stablecoin issuers. Ethena’s stablecoin, USDe, has reached a supply of about $15 billion.
Jeff Yan, CEO of Hyperliquid, stated that his project does not consider itself to have any competitors. As of mid-October 2026, the HYPE token traded at $80–81, resulting in a market capitalization of around $18 billion.
The ENA token from Ethena traded at approximately $0.21 with a market capitalization of about $2.8 billion. Investors are currently monitoring Aave's RWA-backed lending growth, Ethena's USDe supply, and the stability of Hyperliquid's trading activity and valuation.
