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Aave Labs, the team responsible for handling the top DeFi lending protocol Aave, has announced the launch of a new consumer-facing mobile app called “Aave: Save and Earn.”
The app introduces iPhone users directly to high-yield savings via the Apple App Store. The team presented it as a way to make DeFi more accessible for everyday retail users, as it eliminates the need for crypto wallets or complex setups.
Aave’s high-yield crypto app
Aave Labs, like many other blockchain-affiliated companies, is taking advantage of the recent crypto boom to expand its appeal to mainstream customers. The announcement revealing the project’s plans to launch an app in Apple’s App Store came on Monday, and there is already a waitlist out for interested users.
The Aave Labs team is positioning the upcoming app as a softer landing spot for outsiders of crypto, and opening up the waitlist for the app is its way of offering a version of its services without the buzzwords linked to crypto, which may be unfamiliar or off-putting to outsiders.
Aave’s new product is reportedly similar to a savings account, with the only real difference being that it provides access to a higher yield. Other features that set it apart are that it allows users to earn a minimum of 5% interest on their holdings, and they can deposit money into a bank account or a debit card.
Meanwhile, the product will use stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the U.S. dollar, as well as the Aave protocol.
While DeFi protocols like Aave can be liable to greater risks than conventional banks, because of hacks and the fact that they have no government backing, Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, stressed to Fortune that the Aave protocol—and subsequently the forthcoming Aave app—is safe.
Aave is one of the very few protocols to have never experienced an exploit in its five-year history.
“There is a security in the actual market economics. And then there’s also security on the actual code basis,” Kulechov said, while highlighting how multiple security companies have audited the software.
Kulechov claims to be a big fan of merging DeFi and Wall Street. He believes DeFi has been accessible to only “very savvy, professional users,” and that the “next step for DeFi is to bring more direct access for consumers.”
Aave acquired a stablecoin company
News of Aave’s high-yield app is coming weeks after it revealed that it had 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 improve our offering down the line,” said Kulechov.
According to an official update shared on the project’s blog, the acquisition is supposed to help Aave Labs develop more consumer-focused products for DeFi. As part of the acquisition, Stable Finance founder Mario Baxter Cabrera will assume the role of Aave Labs’ Director of Product. The entire Stable Finance engineering team will also be absorbed by Aave Labs.
The company says the move heralds the next phase Aave is entering, and it will draw from its experience in DeFi to deliver resilient institutional products like Horizon alongside accessible consumer products that will broaden access to on-chain finance for both individuals and institutions.
“Mario and the Stable team have built unique technology supporting a seamless user experience that will help accelerate our consumer roadmap and extend the Aave protocol to new users,” Kulechov said.
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