The Aave DAO community has taken a major step toward bringing its decentralized lending protocol into the centralized finance (CeFi) world, approving a proposal to license Aave v3 for Kraken’s Ink blockchain.
Community Backs Aave’s Centralized Strategy
In a recent governance vote, 99.8% of Aave token holders supported the ARFC (Aave Request for Comment) to move forward with deploying a white-label version of its lending system on Kraken’s Ink chain. The next phase involves a full Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) for onchain voting.
This initiative signals a strategic shift—blending DeFi infrastructure with centralized deployment models—allowing Aave to widen its reach among institutions.
According to the ARFC, the license will allow Aave to offer a compliant, centralized version of its codebase. This opens new revenue streams for Aave while promoting technology adoption across regulated environments.
Kraken’s Ink Blockchain Targets Institutional DeFi
Kraken launched its Ink blockchain in late 2024, branding it as a compliant layer-2 network for tokenized assets and institutional-grade finance. The chain is designed to facilitate regulated DeFi access, making it a prime platform for enterprise-level lending protocols like Aave.
The Ink Foundation has pledged over $250 million in liquidity incentives to support this new Aave deployment, including several upcoming liquidity mining programs aimed at attracting early users.
Aave Eyes Institutional Lending Market Growth
This proposal positions Aave to capitalize on the institutional lending market, which has seen growing demand amid regulatory pressure on traditional banks.
The DAO will receive a share equal to or greater than a 5% Reserve Factor from borrow volume across pools, ensuring a sustainable income model for token holders.
“By engaging with centralized entities through licensed deployments, Aave is expanding its utility and long-term relevance in a hybrid financial ecosystem,” the proposal emphasized.
TVL Slips, But Momentum Remains
Despite a dip in total value locked (TVL) from $40.3 billion in May to $33.5 billion, Aave remains the second-largest DeFi protocol, trailing only behind Lido.
This move to Kraken Ink may catalyze new growth and solidify Aave’s role in bridging decentralized protocols with compliant financial infrastructure.
Disclaimer
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