DeFi Heavyweight Aave Expands Beyond the EVM, Launches on Aptos

Aave, one of decentralized finance’s largest lending platforms, has expanded to the Aptos blockchain, marking its first launch on a non-EVM network after more than five years of operating exclusively on Ethereum and compatible chains. The deployment underscores Aave’s multichain strategy and its ambition to support new collateral markets and deepen stablecoin liquidity across diverse ecosystems.

Aave is live on @aptos. pic.twitter.com/azgKS0JKFc

— Aave (@aave) August 21, 2025

Aave V3 re-engineered for Aptos

Unlike Ethereum and its EVM-compatible peers, Aptos runs on the Move programming language, requiring Aave Labs to re-implement Aave V3 from the ground up. The team also developed a new front-end, SDK, and integration tooling to ensure the protocol could operate securely and efficiently within Aptos’s architecture.

The launch underwent extensive security reviews, including audits by Zellic, Ottersec, SpearBit (Cantina), and Certora. Additional measures included a mainnet capture-the-flag competition and an ongoing $500,000 bug bounty program funded in Aave’s GHO stablecoin. Risk parameters were established by Chaos Labs and LlamaRisk, while Chainlink provided production-ready price feeds to support lending and borrowing markets.

Supported assets and liquidity incentives

At launch, Aave supports four assets: Aptos’s native token (APT), stablecoins USDC and USDT, and Ethena Staked USDe (sUSDe). To encourage adoption, the Aptos Foundation will provide liquidity incentives and user rewards.

The move is expected to bolster Aptos’s growing stablecoin market, which is valued at approximately $1.3 billion and dominated by Tether’s USDT. It also positions Aave to tap into Aptos’s liquid staking ecosystem, where only 8.1% of APT is currently represented as liquid staking tokens compared to 76% staked directly.

Welcome to Aave V3’s first non-EVM expansion:

→ Rewritten in Move
→ Audited multiple times
→ CTF Competition completed by @cantinaxyz
→ $500,000 @GHO Bug Bounty hosted by @cantinaxyz

Now deployed on Aptos, the Global Trading Engine.

— Aptos (@Aptos) August 21, 2025

A milestone for Aptos and Aave’s multichain vision

Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs, described the deployment as “a big step in Aave’s multichain strategy,” emphasizing that operating across different blockchain architectures is key to building an open financial system. Aptos Foundation’s Ash Pampati framed the launch as a “major milestone” for the network’s Global Trading Engine vision, while Chainlink Labs’ Johann Eid highlighted the continuation of a long-standing collaboration with Aave.

For Aptos, which currently has $857 million in total value locked (TVL) according to DefiLlama, the addition of Aave represents an opportunity to accelerate ecosystem growth. Historically, blockchains that integrated Aave have seen faster TVL expansion compared to those without, a trend Aptos will aim to replicate.

What’s next

Both Aave and Aptos plan to expand the range of supported assets, adjust risk parameters as markets mature, and continue security initiatives to strengthen the deployment. The launch also sets a precedent for future non-EVM expansions, with any additional integrations subject to governance by the Aave DAO.

By entering Aptos, Aave not only diversifies its multichain presence but also signals a broader industry shift toward interoperability beyond EVM-based ecosystems.