Aave weighs closing 6 V3 blockchain markets, offboarding 50 low-use reserves. DeFi risk management service LlamaRisk recommended that Aave wind down every reserve on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos, but action against most of those instances was already taken. An Aave governance proposal would wind down the lending protocol's V3 markets on six blockchains and retire dozens of low-use token listings, a cleanup covering $98.1 million in supplied assets and $15.6 million in debt. Risk service provider LlamaRisk, working with other Aave service providers, recommended offboarding 50 low-use reserves and 21 matured Pendle principal token listings across 11 deployments. It also proposed retiring all 25 reserves on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos. The balances were measured on July 28. An ARFC is a detailed proposal and precursor to an Aave Improvement Proposal; it is not, by itself, proof of a completed final onchain vote or execution. Aptos exit follows recent launch. The proposed Aptos exit comes just 11 months after Aave launched its V3 market there, with available liquidity down 94% over six months and quarterly revenue below $1,000, according to LlamaRisk. Every reserve on Scroll, zkSync, Metis and Soneium was already frozen, whereas Sonic and Aptos remained active and are recommended for freezing. The temp check on Aave's multichain strategy concluded on Dec. 5, 2025, with 923,400 votes in favor and under 1% against increasing the reserve factor on underperforming instances, shutting down the instances on zkSync, Metis and Soneium, and establishing a $2 million annual revenue floor for new instance deployment. Scroll was then added to the affected protocols through an accelerated process in April, as LlamaRisk filed a direct-to-AIP proposal to freeze every Scroll reserve and raise selected reserve factors, describing the measure as completing Scroll's deprecation after a rapid deterioration in network liquidity and Aave market activity. Aave also published an updated risk framework on June 9, covering asset, bridge, monitoring and chain risk and criteria for winding down reserves or deployments, and this month's announcement indicated de facto adoption of those rules by the protocol. Aave founder Stani Kulechov said in a Thursday post that this will also "reduce Aave's economic and technical risk surface as part of the new Aave Risk Framework and Technical Asset Listing Framework." Still, this is not a reversal of Aave's multichain expansion strategy, rather a strategic refocusing on select protocols. "Aave will continue applying continuous risk assessment for all assets across all deployments," Kulechov said. The comments also follow Aave launching on Avalanche earlier this month. Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

DeFi: Aave plans the largest wave of reserve removals in its history. Summarize this article with: Aave wants to remove several reserves that have become too little used. This operation would involve 98.1 million dollars of deposited assets and 15.6 million dollars of debt. For the crypto protocol, it is not about responding to an immediate emergency. The goal is rather to reduce the risks and the costs related to markets that have become unprofitable. In brief. * Aave wants to remove reserves representing 98.1 million dollars. * Six blockchain deployments could be completely closed. * The proposal aims to reduce risks and maintenance costs. Aave wants to remove little-used crypto reserves. The proposal plans the removal of 50 reserves showing limited adoption. It also targets 21 Pendle Principal Tokens that have matured. This reorganization comes as Aave prepares its V4, a version designed to better separate liquidity and risk management. The affected reserves are spread across 11 Aave V3 deployments. They represent approximately 85.3 million dollars of supplied assets and 11.5 million dollars of debt. These amounts remain modest at the scale of the crypto protocol. However, their maintenance requires several technical services. Each market notably needs a price oracle, a liquidation mechanism, and regular monitoring. When activity becomes too low, the revenues generated no longer always offset these costs. Aave therefore prefers to focus its resources on the most active reserves. The plan goes further than a simple token removal. Aave also plans to completely close its deployments on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium, and Aptos. These six markets include 25 additional reserves. Their removal would affect about 12.8 million dollars of assets deposited and 4.1 million dollars of debt. The crypto protocol considers that the revenues from these deployments no longer justify the costs required for their maintenance. This decision illustrates the limits of too rapid multichain expansion. Deploying a protocol on multiple networks can attract new users. But each additional blockchain adds technical risks, liquidity needs, and operational expenses. Aave therefore is not giving up on its multichain model. The crypto protocol is rather looking to close markets that have become peripheral. This logic also applies in a context of tensions around risk management. Progressive measures to encourage users to withdraw. Aave does not plan to immediately remove the concerned reserves. The process would be gradual. Lenders and borrowers would thus have the necessary time to close their positions. The protocol would start by blocking new deposits and new loans. The supply and borrowing limits would then be reduced to a single unit. This measure would practically prevent any new activity without abruptly disturbing existing positions. For assets that can still be borrowed, Aave would also increase the reserve factor. A larger share of interest paid by borrowers would then go to the protocol. Maintaining these positions would gradually become less attractive. The six deployments intended for complete closure could undergo stricter measures. The reserve factor would rise to 99%, while base interest rates would increase. The goal is clear: encourage users to naturally close their positions. This reorganization stems from the new risk framework proposed by Aave in June 2026. It was presented after the KelpDAO bridge attack, which exposed the protocol to significant bad debt risk. During this incident, stolen rsETH was deposited on Aave as collateral. The attacker then borrowed other assets against this collateral. Even though Aave was not directly responsible for the breach, the episode showed that an external asset could transmit its risk to the protocol. The platform then underwent significant withdrawals while continuing to operate. Cointribune analyzed this liquidity crisis and the measures planned to better isolate contagion risks. The proposed removal therefore does not target only assets considered dangerous. It also concerns tokens reproducing native assets, matured Pendle products, and markets whose activity has become insufficient. Maximize your Cointribune experience with its "Read to Earn" program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits. Join the program Enseignante et ingénieure IT, Lydie découvre le Bitcoin en 2022 et plonge dans l'univers des cryptomonnaies. Elle vulgarise des sujets complexes, décrypte les enjeux du Web3 et défend une vision d'un futur numérique ouvert, inclusif et décentralisé. DISCLAIMER The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Yearn, Aave, and Gearbox climb Santiment's yield farming development rankings as DeFi building shifts. July 27, 2026 9:00 PM Table of contents Silent builder activity often tells a different story than token prices. In a week where DeFi tokens drifted sideways, the update from Santiment on yield farming development rankings placed Yearn Finance, Aave, and Gearbox among the top movers - while a handful of established names slipped. The data, pulled from GitHub activity across project repositories, offers a window into which teams are shipping code, not just marketing. Yearn Finance ($YFI) claimed the top spot, marked with a neutral directional indicator but holding steady from the previous month. Aave's Ethereum deployment rose to third, climbing two positions. Gearbox Protocol entered the top five with a sharp upward move, suggesting active work on its leveraged yield strategy framework. Yield Basis ($YB) also appeared as a new entrant, reinforcing that fresh liquidity layer projects are gaining traction in the developer community. Which projects are losing momentum. The other side of the table shows Katana ($KAT) sliding from second to fourth, while Beefy Finance ($BIFI) fell outside the top three. Alchemix ($ALCX) and both SushiSwap deployments - on Ethereum and Arbitrum - occupied the lower ranks, each declining since the last measurement. Unitas Labs ($UP) also dropped, continuing a quiet period for the protocol. These shifts don't necessarily mean abandonment, but in a market where yield farmers migrate quickly between vaults and aggregators, stagnant development can erode mindshare. This ranking arrives at a time when yield opportunities across DeFi are compressing. With stablecoin lending rates moderating and ETH staking yields flat, the protocols that innovate on risk-adjusted returns or capital efficiency are more likely to capture liquidity. The development rankings reflect where that innovation might emerge next. What on-chain development data can and cannot say. Santiment's methodology filters out shallow commits and focuses on core repository contributions. That makes the signal stronger than raw commit counts, but it's still a lagging glimpse into engineering effort. A spike in activity could reflect bug fixes, security audits, or a testing phase ahead of a mainnet launch. It doesn't necessarily translate into immediate user growth or token performance. For traders watching these rankings, the data works best as a leading filter - highlighting projects where the technical foundation is solidifying, even if price hasn't followed yet. The presence of Aave and Yearn at the top also reinforces that multi-cycle DeFi protocols continue to reinvest in their codebases. Some newer entrants, like Gearbox and Yield Basis, could signal where yield farmers will find fresh mechanics in the coming months. Meanwhile, slips from SushiSwap and Alchemix raise questions about how these protocols plan to retain developer talent and liquidity when competition is rising. As broader developer activity trends across crypto show, sustained building is one of the few signals that cuts through short-term noise.