[TEMP CHECK] Focussing the Aave V3 Multichain Strategy

Author: ACI

Date: 19/11/2025

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Summary

This Temp Check proposes an updated multichain strategy for Aave V3 that:

1. Increases the Reserve Factor on underperforming instances to boost revenue.
2. Winds down the zkSync, Metis, and Soneium instances.
3. Establishes a clear $2,000,000 annual revenue floor for new instance deployments.

Motivation

Aave maintains several V3 instances which each carry operational costs and present risk surface area. It is believed that the revenue generated by several of these instances is not sufficient to offset the costs and risks they incur. Over time the multichain expansion strategy has seen mixed results and as expressed in the recent State of the Union post, we hold the view that it has not been the total success which it was hoped to be. We instead believe that Aave should focus on those chains which present the highest opportunity for revenue generation going forward and take remedial action to improve revenue on instances which are currently underperforming.

Figure 1 - TVL by chain, as of 11/11/2025 and excluding Ethereum mainnet instances.

Figure 2 - Annualised revenue by chain, calculated based on past 30 days rolling revenue as of 11/11/2025 and excluding Ethereum mainnet instances.

Table 1 - Contribution of instances to Aave V3 TVL and revenue. |Chain|Rolling 30D Revenue (USD)|Annualized Revenue (USD)|TVL (USD, millions)|TVL as % of total|Revenue as % of total| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Ethereum|$11,693,762|$142,274,104|$44,260|81.10%|81.60%| |Plasma|$783,430|$9,531,732|$3,700|6.78%|5.47%| |Base|$386,687|$4,704,692|$1,800|3.30%|2.70%| |Arbitrum|$487,627|$5,932,795|$1,870|3.43%|3.40%| |Avalanche|$296,886|$3,612,113|$1,050|1.92%|2.07%| |Linea|$249,104|$3,030,765|$766|1.40%|1.74%| |Polygon|$235,421|$2,864,289|$315|0.58%|1.64%| |BNB Chain|$60,121|$731,472|$373|0.68%|0.42%| |Optimism|$44,914|$546,454|$179|0.33%|0.31%| |Scroll|$42,398|$515,842|$23|0.04%|0.30%| |Gnosis|$26,293|$319,898|$123|0.23%|0.18%| |Sonic|$16,619|$202,198|$81|0.15%|0.12%| |Celo|$4,796|$58,351|$23|0.04%|0.03%| |Soneium|$4,269|$51,940|$4|0.01%|0.03%| |zkSync|$1,682|$20,464|$14|0.03%|0.01%| |Metis|$275|$3,346|$8|0.01%|0.00%| |Total|$14,334,284|$174,400,455|$54,589|||

As can be seen from the above plots and table, there are several instance deployments which are significantly underperforming from both a revenue and TVL point of view.

Reserve Factor Increases on Underperforming Instances

We propose that Reserve Factors will be set at an increased floor on all underperforming instances, currently generating less than $3M annualized revenue, namely: Polygon, Gnosis, BNB Chain, Optimism, Scroll, Sonic, and Celo. Full details of Reserve Factor adjustments for all affected chains and assets will be provided at ARFC stage.

Table 2 - Recommended Reserve Factor floors. | Asset category | Reserve Factor | | --- | --- | | Stablecoins (excl. USDC/USDT) | 25% | | WETH | 20% | | USDC / USDT | 15% | | GHO | 10% |

If no meaningful improvement in revenue is observed within the next 12 months following these RF adjustments, ACI will consider initiating offboarding procedures for the affected instances in order to focus resources exclusively on current and future high-revenue deployments.

Shutdown of Aave V3 on the three lowest revenue instances

The zkSync, Metis, and Soneium instances have proven to lack product market fit, with annualized revenue of approximately $3,000-50,000. In addition to the low revenue, some of these chains require additional engineering effort for any new asset onboardings, which, given current service provider workload and low pay-off, is not currently feasible.

Policy for Future Aave V3 Deployments

We would like to highlight the significant value an Aave deployment provides to a new chain. As the largest DeFi protocol, the value and stimulating effect on the onchain ecosystem that a properly planned Aave deployment can bring is significant.

The work involved in a deployment and the substantial ongoing effort from service providers and governance participants has at times been under appreciated, yet in light of the above revenue numbers we must bring this back into focus. The upfront and recurring costs mean the DAO must prioritize deployments that generate sufficient revenue to justify the time and risk involved.

We therefore propose that for any new Aave deployment the chain on which we are deploying guarantees a revenue floor of $2m per annum for all new deployments.

Conclusion

We believe that the above remediation measures will help to focus the DAO on high revenue opportunities, ensure Aave shares in upside from successful instance deployments, reduce the number of low value deployments going forward, ensure that Aave is fairly compensated for the value it brings to our partners, and reduce risk and operational overhead by offboarding poor performing instances.

Disclaimer

ACI is not presenting this proposal on behalf of any third party and is not being compensated for creating this proposal.

Next Steps

1. Period of comment on this TEMP CHECK.
2. TEMP CHECK Snapshot vote.
3. If TEMP CHECK is a YAE, publish a standard ARFC, collect community & service providers feedback before escalating proposal to ARFC snapshot stage.
4. If the ARFC snapshot outcome is YAE, publish an AIP vote for final confirmation and enforcement of the proposal.

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.