Aave 

AAVE Price

What is the Aave protocol?

Aave is a decentralized, non-custodial liquidity protocol for lending and borrowing, live on Ethereum and a dozen-plus other networks. Suppliers deposit assets into pools to earn interest; borrowers post overcollateralized collateral. The protocol originated as ETHLend, a peer-to-peer lending platform founded by Stani Kulechov in 2017, and rebranded to Aave in 2018. Governance runs through the Aave DAO via the AAVE token. Aave also issues GHO, an overcollateralized stablecoin launched in July 2023.

How does the Aave protocol work?

Aave runs pooled liquidity: suppliers deposit assets and earn interest, while borrowers draw from those pools against collateral exceeding the loan value. The Aave protocol pioneered flash loans — uncollateralized loans borrowed and repaid within a single transaction — plus credit delegation and variable/stable rate switching. The money-market protocol launched on Ethereum mainnet in January 2020. Interest-rate and risk parameters change through Aave Improvement Proposals voted on by AAVE holders.

Is AAVE a coin or a token?

AAVE is a token, not a coin. AAVE exists as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, verifiable on Etherscan, and circulates in bridged form across a dozen-plus additional networks including Polygon, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Optimism. DropsTab classifies Aave under DeFi, with Lending Platform, DAO, Governance, Yield Farming, and Stablecoin Issuer tags.

What is the max supply of AAVE?

AAVE has a hard maximum supply of 16,000,000 tokens, per DropsTab supply data. The Aavenomics proposal of July 2020 created the full 16 million tokens at genesis in October 2020. Of that total, 13,000,000 AAVE (81.25%) went to LEND holders at a conversion of 100 LEND : 1 AAVE. The remaining 3,000,000 AAVE (18.75%) went to the Aave Ecosystem Reserve, spendable only through governance. No new AAVE are minted.

Does AAVE have a vesting schedule or upcoming token unlocks?

AAVE has no vesting schedule and no scheduled unlocks. The full 16,000,000 supply was created at genesis in October 2020 through the LEND migration, not through team or investor vesting — no TGE cliffs and no release dates exist. Sell pressure on supply instead comes from governance decisions on the Aave Ecosystem Reserve and stakers exiting the Safety Module. The team received no dedicated token tranche at genesis; institutional positions were open-market LEND purchases.

What is Aave staking and the Safety Module?

Aave staking means depositing AAVE into the Safety Module as stkAAVE, now under the Umbrella framework. Stakers earn protocol rewards and act as a first-loss backstop: up to 30% of staked tokens can be slashed in a shortfall event that covers protocol bad debt. GHO staking was added in 2024, extending the Safety Module beyond AAVE. Exiting the Safety Module subjects stakers to a cooldown period before withdrawal.

Is AAVE a stablecoin?

AAVE is not a stablecoin. GHO is the stablecoin issued by the Aave protocol — overcollateralized and launched in July 2023. Mint interest on GHO flows to the Aave DAO treasury. Queries about "aave stablecoin" refer to GHO, a separate asset with its own market. AAVE functions as the governance and staking token, not as a pegged medium of exchange.

Who backed Aave and how much did the project raise?

The ETHLend ICO in November 2017 raised approximately $16.2M, selling 1 billion LEND tokens at $0.016 each. Framework Ventures and Three Arrows Capital invested $3M in July 2020, purchasing roughly 30 million LEND at $0.10. ParaFi Capital is also cited as a backer. The rounds related to LEND, AAVE's predecessor token. Backer concentration carried a real cost: Three Arrows Capital collapsed into liquidation in June 2022.

Where can you trade AAVE — on which exchanges and market types?

Per DropsTab data, AAVE trades on 5+ venues across three market types. Spot CEXs include Binance (AAVE/USDT), Coinbase (AAVE/USD), Kraken (AAVE/USD), OKX, Bybit, and Upbit (AAVE/KRW). Derivatives venues include Binance Futures, Bybit, Kraken Futures, Hyperliquid (AAVE-USD), and Deribit perpetuals. DEX pairs include Uniswap v3 AAVE/WETH on Ethereum, Balancer V2, and PancakeSwap v2 on BSC. Quote assets span USD, USDT, USDC, EUR, KRW, BTC, and ETH.

What is Aave V4?

Aave V4 is the next major version of the Aave lending protocol, launched on public testnet on November 19–20, 2025. V4 introduces a Hub-and-Spoke architecture: Core, Plus, and Prime hubs sit atop a unified liquidity layer, replacing isolated per-market pools. Per Token Terminal reporting from July 2026, the Ethereum mainnet rollout followed in late March 2026. V4 remains governed by AAVE holders through the Aave DAO.