The recent crypto boom has been marked by blockchain companies working to expand their appeal to mainstream consumers. That now includes Aave Labs, the developer behind a popular decentralized lending service, which on Monday announced plans to launch an app in Apple’s App Store and opened up a waitlist for interested users.
Aave is well-known in crypto as a leading project in DeFi, or decentralized finance. By opening up the waitlist for the app, it seeks to offer a version of its services without the litany of lingo, such as “stablecoins” and “protocol,” that is common in crypto but that may be unfamiliar or offputting to outsiders.
Aave’s new product acts like a savings account—but with a higher yield. Users can earn a minimum 5% in interest on their holdings and can deposit money in with a bank account or debit card. The product uses stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the U.S. dollar, as well as the Aave protocol.
Aave has been one of the longest-standing networks of its kind, boasting over $30 billion in deposits, according to data from the crypto analytics site DefiLlama. Customers typically can get more interest on their assets on DeFi protocols than through conventional banks, but they often come with a greater risk of hacks—and no government backing.
Still, Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, stressed that the Aave protocol—and therefore the forthcoming Aave app—is safe, especially since Aave has never experienced an exploit in its five-year history. “There is a security on the actual market economics. And then there’s also security on the actual code basis,” he said, pointing to how multiple companies have audited the software.
Wall Street and DeFi converge
The planned launch of the Aave app comes as the chasm between traditional finance companies and crypto-native startups is growing smaller. The marquee asset manager BlackRock has leaned into Bitcoin, the fintech Stripe has embraced stablecoins, and the banking giant JPMorgan Chase has steadily deployed new blockchain products.
Meanwhile, crypto companies have sought to attract more mainstream users. The U.S. crypto exchange Kraken has launched its own payments app and a slew of others are aiming to create their own bank-like products built with stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the U.S. dollar.
“Typically, DeFi has been accessible to very savvy, professional users,” Kulechov, CEO of Aave Labs, told Fortune. “The next step for DeFi is to bring more direct access for consumers.”
Kulechov is one of DeFi’s torchbearers. In 2020, he launched the Aave protocol. Since then, he’s expanded out his DeFi offerings to include a crypto wallet, a decentralized stablecoin, and a decentralized protocol for social media.
In October, Aave Labs acquired the stablecoin company Stable Finance for an undisclosed sum. “They had more of a consumer DeFi experience that helped our team to move faster and and improve our offering down the line,” said Kulechov.
