The recent crypto boom has been marked by blockchain companies working to increase their appeal among traditional consumers. That now includes Aave Labs, the developer behind a popular decentralized lending service, which announced plans Monday to launch an app on Apple’s App Store and opened a waiting list for interested users.
Aave is well known in the crypto space as a leading project in the field of DeFi, or decentralized finance. By opening the waitlist for the app, it seeks to offer a version of its services without the litany of jargon, like “stablecoins” and “protocol,” that are common in crypto but can be unfamiliar or off-putting to outsiders.
Aave’s new product acts like a savings account, but with a higher return. Users can earn a minimum of 5% interest on their holdings and can deposit money with a bank account or debit card. The product uses stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies linked to underlying assets like the US dollar, as well as the Aave protocol.
Aave is one of the oldest networks of its kind, with more than $30 billion in deposits, according to data from crypto analytics site DefiLlama. Customers can generally earn more interest on their assets on DeFi protocols than through conventional banks, but they often face greater risk of hacks and no government support.
Nonetheless, Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, emphasized that the Aave protocol – and therefore the upcoming Aave app – is secure, especially since Aave has never experienced an exploit in its five years of existence. “There is security based on the real economics of the market. And then there is also security based on the code itself,” he said, highlighting how several companies have audited the software.
Wall Street and DeFi converge
The planned launch of the Aave app comes as the gap between traditional financial companies and crypto-native startups narrows. Renowned asset manager BlackRock has looked into Bitcoin, fintech Stripe has embraced stablecoins, and banking giant JPMorgan Chase has steadily rolled out new blockchain products.
Meanwhile, crypto companies have sought to attract more mainstream users. US crypto exchange Kraken has launched its own payments app and many others aim to create their own banking-like products built with stablecoins or cryptocurrencies tied to underlying assets like the US dollar.
“Typically, DeFi has been accessible to very sophisticated professional users,” said Kulechov, CEO of Aave Labs. Fortune. “The next step for DeFi is to provide more direct access to consumers.”
Kulechov, CEO of Aave Labs, is one of the torchbearers of DeFi. In 2020, it launched the Aave protocol. Since then, it has expanded its DeFi offerings to include a crypto wallet, a decentralized stablecoin, and a decentralized social media protocol.
In October, Aave Labs acquired stablecoin company Stable Finance for an undisclosed amount. “They had more of a mainstream DeFi experience that helped our team move faster and improve our offering across the board,” Kulechov said.
