AAVE v4 deposits surpass $1B, doubling in a month

Aave’s fourth-generation protocol just crossed the $1 billion deposit mark, roughly doubling its total in a single month. The milestone, reached around September 16-17, puts V4 on a trajectory that even the protocol’s most optimistic backers probably didn’t pencil in this early. To put the speed in perspective: Aave V4 deposits sat below $340 million at the start of August. By early September, that figure had climbed to roughly $577 million. Now it’s hovering around $1.16 billion, with active loans running between $300 million and $310 million. What’s driving the surge A significant chunk of V4’s growth traces back to one particular corner of the ecosystem: the Ether.fi Cash market on Optimism. That single market crossed $300 million in deposits, making it a heavyweight contributor to V4’s overall numbers. The architectural innovation behind V4 is what Aave calls a “hub-and-spoke” liquidity model. Rather than pooling all assets into one monolithic lending market the way earlier versions did, V4 lets developers spin up specialized markets (the spokes) that connect back to a central liquidity hub. Aave V4 launched on Ethereum mainnet in March 2026, and the ramp-up since then has foll...