Aave
Non-custodial lending protocol where users supply crypto to earn interest and borrow against collateral.
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Aave key facts
| Category | Lending protocol |
|---|---|
| Chains | Ethereum and other EVM networks |
| Platforms | Web |
| Custody | Non-custodial |
| Fees | Flash loan fee 0.05% at deployment, changeable by governance |
| Security audits | 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews; $5M+ bug bounty |
| Token | AAVE; GHO stablecoin |
| US availability | Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions |
AAVE token
- Price
- $131 +0.8% 24h
- Market cap
- $2B
- Fully diluted value
- $2.1B
- 30-day change
- -24.8%
Market data: CoinGecko, updated Nov 9, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
What is Aave?
Aave is a decentralized, non-custodial lending protocol: users supply crypto assets to earn interest and borrow against collateral. Its security page lists 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews and a live bug bounty of $5M+. Flash loans carry a fee set at 0.05% at deployment, changeable by governance vote.
How Aave works
When you supply an asset to Aave v3, you receive aTokens such as aUSDC, whose balance grows as borrowers pay interest.
Borrowing mints variableDebtTokens that track what you owe. Each reserve sets its own loan-to-value ratio, liquidation threshold, supply and borrow caps and a two-slope rate curve. Once your Health Factor falls below 1, liquidators can repay part of your debt and take your collateral at a discount.
Aave v3 runs on more than 14 networks. Efficiency Mode gives a higher LTV when collateral and debt are correlated, such as two USD stablecoins. Isolation Mode lets riskier assets serve as collateral only for a set basket, up to a debt ceiling. Siloed borrowing stops anyone who borrows a flagged asset from holding other borrows in that pool.
How to start with Aave
- Aave is non-custodial, so you connect a self-custodial wallet and interact with the contracts directly.
- There is no account to open.
- Under the Aave Labs terms, you must be at least 18 or the age of majority where you live, and you cannot use the service from sanctioned places such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia or the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions of Ukraine.
- Supplying first and then borrowing against it is the basic flow, and you can repay at any time.
Aave fees and limits
- Flash loans carry a fee that was 0.05% at deployment and can be changed by governance.
Supplier yield comes from borrower interest after the reserve factor, the share the protocol keeps. Every action also costs network gas on the chain you use. Reserve parameters differ by market, so the same token can have a different LTV or rate on Ethereum than on another network.
Risks to know before using Aave
- Aave lists four main risks: smart contract bugs, oracle failures (it uses Chainlink feeds), collateral losing value or liquidity, and issues on the networks and bridges it runs on.
- Changes go through on-chain AAVE votes and then a timelock of 1 day for standard changes or 7 days for governance changes.
- A 5-of-9 community Guardian can cancel malicious proposals.
- Aave states that no central party can freeze individual positions, but governance can pause markets or change rates and collateral rules without separate notice.
Aave usage
From DefiLlama (TVL) (fees users paid), updated Nov 9, 2026.
Aave alternatives
Other projects people compare with Aave.
Lending protocol where each Compound III market lends one base asset, such as USDC, against crypto collateral.
Solana DeFi protocol for lending, borrowing, leveraged yield and automated liquidity vaults.
Onchain asset manager that lends to institutions and offers the syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT yield tokens.
Open lending network of isolated markets and curated vaults that route deposits into them.
Lending and borrowing protocol on Solana, formerly Solend.
Lending and savings protocol in the Sky ecosystem: SparkLend borrowing and Spark Savings for USDS and USDC.
Where Aave ranks on DappAtlas
Listed next to Aave
- Uniswap Decentralized exchange
- Lido Liquid staking
- Curve Finance Decentralized exchange
- CoW Swap DEX aggregator
- Pendle Yield platform
- EigenLayer Restaking
Aave pros and cons
- Security page lists 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews
- Bug bounty rewards of $5M+ listed on its security page
- Flash loans for developers, with a 0.05% fee at deployment
- Positions are liquidated when the Health Factor falls below 1
- Borrow rates rise faster above the optimal utilization point
- Flash loan fee can be changed by governance vote
Aave FAQ
What is Aave?
Aave is a decentralized, non-custodial lending protocol: users supply crypto assets to earn interest and borrow against collateral. Its security page lists 65 audits and AI-assisted reviews and a live bug bounty of $5M+. Flash loans carry a fee set at 0.05% at deployment, changeable by governance vote.
How much value is locked in Aave?
$16.9B according to DefiLlama on Nov 9, 2026. It is deployed on 23 chains: Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Plasma, Monad, Avalanche and others.
How much does Aave cost?
Flash loan fee 0.05% at deployment, changeable by governance, according to Aave’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
How much do users pay Aave in fees?
$39.2M over the last 30 days, according to DefiLlama on Nov 9, 2026.
Does Aave have a token?
Yes, AAVE. Its market cap was $2B on CoinGecko on Nov 9, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
Is Aave available in the US?
Available: terms restrict only sanctioned jurisdictions, according to Aave’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
Does Aave hold my funds?
No. Aave is non-custodial: you keep your funds in your own wallet and sign each transaction.
Sources
How this page works
Sources: Aave: official site, Aave: Flash loans guide, Aave: Security. Data as of Sep 26, 2026.
Not affiliated with any project listed. Educational content, not financial advice.