Aave Lending Protocol by Aave Labs: status and timeline

Aave Lending Protocol

Lending protocol where users deposit crypto to earn interest and borrowers take loans against collateral. V4 uses hub-and-spoke architecture with three hubs (Core, Prime, Plus).

ScalingStage 5 of 5

V4 with liquidity hubs and spokes launched March 2026; $12B TVL across chains in October 2026.

Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · V4 rollout to all deployed chains

Aave Protocol launches on EthereumJan 2020Complete.
Aave V2 launches, major upgradeDec 2020Complete.
Aave V3 with risk isolation and e-modeJan 2023Complete.
Aave V4 hub-and-spoke on mainnetMar 2026Complete.
V4 rollout to all deployed chainsTarget Q4 2026Current milestone.

Upcoming

Q4 2026V4 rollout to all deployed chains (next)
Q4 2026Aave V4 deployment on additional chains
2027New collateral types (including tokenized assets)

Current obstacles

Oracle manipulation riskPrice oracles can be attacked or manipulated, leading to incorrect liquidations or protocol loss.
Governance dilution across chainsAave governance becomes harder to coordinate across multiple blockchains, risking inconsistent parameters.

Physics limits

Collateral quality boundsOnly certain assets can be used as collateral; highly volatile or illiquid tokens cannot be used to avoid triggering cascading liquidations.
Interest rates capped by economicsBorrowing rates must be competitive with other lending protocols; rates too high scare off borrowers, while too low make deposits unattractive.

How it works

4 parts

Deposit

Users deposit collateral

A user deposits supported crypto (ETH, stablecoins, etc.) and receives aTokens, earning interest from borrower fees.

Borrow

Borrowers take loans

Borrowers deposit collateral worth >150% of the loan amount, then borrow stablecoins or crypto at variable or stable rates.

Interest

Rates set by supply and demand

Interest rates adjust algorithmically based on how much of the pool is borrowed vs. available.

Liquidation

At-risk positions are unwound

If collateral value drops below the threshold, anyone can trigger liquidation, paying off the loan and claiming a portion of collateral.

Spec sheet

Spec	Aave Lending Protocol
Total value locked	$12B^R (reported)
Collateral types (V4+)	20+^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

About Aave Labs

The team behind Aave Lending Protocol

Aave Labs

Lending protocol, DeFi, hub-and-spoke, governance

Aave is a decentralized lending protocol where users deposit cryptocurrency to earn interest, and borrowers take loans against collateral. Aave Labs is the core development team. In 2026, Aave launched V4 with a hub-and-spoke architecture.

Aave is the largest lending protocol by TVL, with $12B locked across all instances as of October 2026.
V4 launched March 2026 with hub-and-spoke architecture, enabling multiple borrowing environments and real-world assets.
The protocol is governed by AAVE token holders who vote on parameter changes, new collateral types, and fee structures.

aave.com (opens aave.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20179 yrs
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Works in: CryptoTrading & DeFi
Coverage: 1 program · 1 updatelatest 1 Mar 2026checked 10 Oct
Partners: Ethereum Foundation (opens ethereum.org)

Spec

Aave Lending Protocol

Total value locked

$12B^R (reported)

Collateral types (V4+)

20+^R (reported)