$600M DeFi Fee Rally Anchored by Uniswap and Aave, Buybacks Take the Lead

Decentralized finance protocols are seeing renewed activity, with total fees surging to $600 million in September—almost double the $340 million low in March. Traders are rotating back into fundamentally strong projects, signaling confidence in top-tier DeFi platforms.

Leading the charge are Uniswap and Aave, with synthetic-dollar project Ethena also emerging among the top earners, according to The Block Research.

Protocols are increasingly designing token models that return value directly to holders:

• Uniswap: Governance approved $165 million in foundation funding earlier this year and is preparing to implement the long-anticipated fee switch, which will redirect a portion of trading fees to UNI holders once v4 launches on Unichain.
• Aave: The protocol now channels surplus revenue into regular token buybacks and its ecosystem reserve, creating a standing mechanism that ties platform activity directly to AAVE token performance.
• Ethena: Through its USDe and sUSDe system, fees are distributed directly to holders as yield. Partnerships with Aave and Pendle further increase revenue and activity, cementing Ethena’s position among DeFi’s top revenue generators.

Although the tokens themselves have mirrored broader market trends rather than outpacing them, rising fee revenue and strengthened tokenomics provide traders with a framework to value these projects beyond hype. UNI, AAVE, and ENA remain key tokens to watch.

Questions remain, however: Will fee levels sustain if trading volumes shift? Could treasury allocations dilute rewards for holders? Or will the next market cycle shift attention back to meme-driven tokens?