Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov has criticized the use of Total Value Locked (TVL) as the primary metric for valuing DeFi lending protocols. In a recent tweet, Kulechov argued that TVL measures net collateral rather than actual lending activity, which can misrepresent the true value of a protocol. Kulechov highlighted that Aave's supply volume stands at approximately $52 billion, with active loans totaling around $22 billion and interest income exceeding $700 million. He contrasted this with traditional finance metrics, where lenders are evaluated based on loan book size, interest income, and asset growth. Kulechov emphasized that Aave should be viewed as a $700 million lending business under traditional financial frameworks, rather than being primarily assessed by its $150 million in DAO fee retention. He advocates for a shift in focus from TVL to metrics like loan book size and interest flows to better reflect the economic value of DeFi lending protocols.