Aave DAO approves Kraken-backed Ink Foundation to launch white-label version of lending protocol in ARFC vote

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Quick Take

  • In an AFRC vote, the Aave community voted to allow Kraken’s Ink Foundation to launch its lending protocol using Aave’s codebase.
  • Aave anticipates that the initiative will expand its presence in the institutional lending space.

The Aave DAO has voted in an AFRC vote to enable the Ink Foundation to launch a white-label version of Aave V3. The Ink Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting the Kraken-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 of the same name.

"The Ink Foundation seeks to leverage Aave's battle-tested infrastructure to create a native lending platform," Aave DAO's proposal said. "This partnership represents an opportunity for Aave to expand its influence in the institutional lending space while maintaining its commitment to technological excellence."

As the proposal passed with 99.8% in favor, the DAO is expected to grant the license for the foundation to launch a rebranded, centralized version of the lending platform that uses Aave's codebase. 

Aave DAO service providers will assist with Ink's Aave V3 instance for the first six months. In exchange, Aave DAO will receive a share of the new platform's revenue, equal to or greater than the equivalent of a Reserve Factor of 5% based on borrow volume in all pools.

This initiative will also prevent Ink Foundation and its centralized partners from seeking out other lending protocols for collaborations for a minimum of 12 months after deployment.

On the other hand, the Ink Foundation will dedicate substantial resources to launching and growing this white-label instance of Aave V3, including the introduction of several liquidity mining programs aimed at attracting over $250 million in initial liquidity to the platform.

Meanwhile, Aave V3 is currently deployed across 17 different chains including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base and Polygon, according to DefiLlama data.


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AUTHOR

Danny Park is an East Asia reporter at The Block writing on topics including Web3 developments and crypto regulations in the region. He was formerly a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the downfall of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny has previously produced written and video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong and China. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.

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