Aave, the leading DeFi lending protocol, has initiated the cross-chain expansion of its GHO stablecoin. On July 2, Aave deployed GHO on Arbitrum, the top Layer 2 network by total value locked (TVL). This move allows users to mint and burn GHO natively using Aave v3 on Arbitrum.
Key Benefits of Integration
- Lower fees
- Faster transactions
- Enhanced liquidity
Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, highlighted these benefits, noting that they make GHO more attractive and open up new use cases like digital payments.
Incentives and Adoption
To promote GHO adoption, the Arbitrum DAO has allocated 750,000 ARB tokens ($582,300). Aave users can mint GHO against collateral assets deposited on the Aave protocol. Currently, GHO ranks as the 21st largest stablecoin with an $89.1 million market cap, according to CoinGecko. However, the price of AAVE has declined by 3.3% over the past 24 hours, as reported by The Defiant.
Multichain Expansion Strategy
Aave’s deployment on Arbitrum marks the beginning of GHO’s phased cross-chain expansion. In May, the Aave community unanimously supported a cross-chain launch strategy for GHO. The proposal emphasized the need to overcome GHO’s current limitation of being accessible primarily on the Ethereum mainnet.
Chainlink’s CCIP Role Aave is utilizing Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP) to facilitate GHO’s cross-chain expansion. Each GHO deployment will be backed by reserves held on Ethereum. This strategy will unlock integration opportunities and new use cases across various networks.
Future Deployments and Evaluations
Aave v3 is already live on 12 networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and several Layer 2 chains like Arbitrum and Optimism. GHO’s deployment on Arbitrum will undergo thorough evaluation before expanding to additional networks through community governance. In April, AAVE holders voted with 87.5% support to select Arbitrum for GHO’s first cross-chain rollout, followed by Avalanche with 12.2%.
