Aave's governance is considering a proposal to wind down its V3 lending markets on six blockchains, impacting dozens of token listings. The Aave Request for Comment (ARFC) targets $98.1 million in supplied assets and $15.6 million in outstanding debt across underutilized deployments.
The affected V3 markets span Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos. Within those markets, 50 low-use token reserves are slated for removal, along with 21 matured Pendle Principal Tokens (PTs).
Risk management service LlamaRisk initiated the recommendation, working with other Aave service providers. Their analysis flagged the specific markets and reserves for closure based on low activity.
The wind-down targets instances where liquidity is fragmented and capital efficiency is low. Maintaining smaller, less active markets generates operational overhead without commensurate fee revenue or user engagement.
Users with assets supplied or borrowed on the six markets will need to migrate their positions. The offboarding process will include a grace period for withdrawals and debt repayments.
The 21 matured Pendle PTs are included because a PT's utility within a lending market diminishes once it reaches maturity, making removal straightforward lifecycle management.
Aave's exit also signals where capital aggregation has not materialized on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos—chains competing for DeFi liquidity. Consolidating operations reduces attack surface and allows more concentrated security monitoring.
The ARFC will proceed through Aave's governance process, requiring community discussion and an on-chain vote. Approval would authorize the Aave Guardian multisig to execute the smart contract actions needed to close the markets.
