Since April, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have added approximately $49 billion in net total value locked (TVL).
Interestingly, Aave accounted for around $15 billion of this increase and represented roughly 31% of the total growth across DeFi platforms during the period.
Aave Leads the Pack
The latest figure means that for every $10 billion added to DeFi TVL, Aave contributed about $3 billion, according to recent data shared by Sealaunch on Dune Analytics.
Aave is a decentralized finance platform that allows users to lend and borrow crypto assets without relying on traditional intermediaries. Users who provide assets like stablecoins, Bitcoin, or Ethereum to liquidity pools can earn interest, while borrowers access these funds by supplying collateral. Interest rates are determined automatically according to supply and demand conditions.
The DeFi platform disclosed earlier this month that it is now the first DeFi lending protocol with net deposits of more than $50 billion, building on the ongoing on-chain market rally that has continued since late October 2023.
Aave launched its permissioned Aave Arc protocol in 2021, integrating KYC and anti-money-laundering measures to meet institutional requirements. Arc was used in Project Guardian under Singapore’s central bank to tokenize assets. In March, Aave introduced its Horizon plan to ramp up real-world asset adoption on DeFi rails.
Meanwhile, its native token, AAVE, has climbed above $330, gaining nearly 36% over the past month, alongside the broader market rally.
Aave’s Ink Blockchain Lending Proposal
It is currently preparing to deploy a centralized version of its DeFi lending service on Kraken’s Ink blockchain after community members backed the plan with 99.8% approval in an ARFC vote. The proposal in question precedes a DAO on-chain vote via an AIP and involves whitelabeling Aave v3 for the Ink Foundation.
The goal is to drive institutional adoption of on-chain lending. The ARFC outlined that the move will help the lending protocol extend its technology reach and open new revenue channels while receiving a portion of borrow volume fees equivalent to a 5% reserve factor. The Ink Foundation has also pledged funding to develop the protocol.
