Aave's 2026 "Master Plan" focuses on scaling through V4's Hub-and-Spoke cross-chain architecture, pursuing expansion into roughly $1 billion of real-world assets, and accelerating growth of its consumer mobile app. It also aims to navigate DAO governance tensions and present Aave as scale-first DeFi infrastructure, reinforced by founder Stani Kulechov's personal AAVE purchase. The roadmap arrives after an SEC probe ended.