Key Takeaways:
- Aave V3 and GHO stablecoin launched on Monad mainnet
- Monad Foundation committed $15M in incentives over 12 months
- Monad's TVL stood at $359.5M as of June 8, per DefiLlama
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Aave deploys V3 and GHO on Monad with $15M in incentives
Aave's V3 lending protocol and GHO stablecoin went live on Monad on July 2, backed by a $15 million incentive program from the Monad Foundation to seed liquidity and drive user adoption on the layer-1 blockchain.
"The incentives are designed to bootstrap initial liquidity and establish Aave as the primary lending venue on Monad," a representative familiar with the deployment said, citing governance documents that show the foundation committed $15 million over the first 12 months after activation. The foundation also agreed to acquire and retain 10 million GHO for more than six months, while Aave DAO committed an additional 500,000 GHO in incentives.
Monad's mainnet launched Nov. 24, 2025, and had about $359.5 million in total value locked as of June 8, according to DefiLlama. Early network usage compressed after a strong start, with liquidity concentrated in established protocols, according to a risk assessment by LlamaRisk, which supported the deployment with conservative initial parameters citing Monad's short operating history. The broader DeFi sector has faced headwinds, with total value locked across all chains dropping 39 percent in 2026 amid a market downturn and record hack activity.
The expansion opens a new revenue stream for Aave through lending activity on Monad and extends GHO's utility beyond Ethereum. Aave's deposit base reached about $75 billion at its October 2025 peak, and Standard Chartered said in June that tokenized assets entering DeFi could drive further deposits. Centrifuge in April revealed plans to bring tokenized Treasuries, private credit and AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations to Monad, giving the ecosystem an established lending venue that could support tokenized assets as the network develops. Whether user activity persists after the incentive period ends will determine the long-term viability of the deployment, LlamaRisk noted in its assessment.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
