DeFi protocol Aave to launch bespoke blockchain following V4 upgrade

DeFi protocol Aave plans to launch an “Aave Network” chain after completing its V4 upgrade.

Stani Kulechov, the lending protocol’s founder, revealed this in a May 27 social media post, saying:

“This is not a drill, Aave Network is planned to come after V4.”

While Kulechov failed to provide additional information about the plan, he hinted that the chain could be launched by “next year for sure or earlier.”

According to DeFillama data, Aave is the largest lending protocol in the DeFi sector, with the total value of assets locked at $13.2 billion.

Earlier this month, Aave Labs proposed the Aave Network as part of its strategic 2030 roadmap.

The firm said the network would serve as the primary hub for Aave and GHO while maintaining a multichain and network-agnostic approach.

It added:

“While Ethereum would remain the home of the Aave DAO and the Aave governance, the network can bring unprecedented growth to Aave and GHO by opening up unexplored markets.”

The proposal outlined plans to use the GHO stablecoin for gas fees, while the AAVE token would be the main staking asset for decentralized validators and sequencers.

Meanwhile, Aave Labs emphasized that it would continue monitoring the evolution of both Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains before finalizing its planned network architecture. However, it confirmed that the Aave Network will inherit its security from Ethereum.

Crypto community members have strongly welcomed news of the Aave Network plans.

Jason Ma, the head of DeFi at Axelar Foundation, said:

“All successful apps will launch their own chains over time.”

Meanwhile, Marc Zeller, the founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, claimed that Aave would be the largest Ethereum Layer with a market size of $20.5 billion. This would place it ahead of other Ethereum-based layer-2 networks like Optimism, Arbitrum, and the fast-rising Coinbase-backed Base network.

He added that Aave would rank as the third-largest chain after Ethereum and Tron with that market cap.

Avara, the parent of Aave, recently announced Lens Network to expand Lens Protocol, built on zkSync technology, and Kulechov has advocated strongly for the workflow for launching appchains.

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