Aave

Aave and its forerunner, ETHLend, were established by Stani Kulechov. He was motivated by the scarcity of lending apps available on Ethereum at the time, prompting him to create the project before the rise of decentralized finance.

Kulechov, a serial entrepreneur who started programming during his teenage years and attended law school, was an early blockchain enthusiast. The CEO expressed his aim to rebrand ETHLend to Aave to broaden the range of services offered beyond just Ether lending.

Kulechov has indicated that Aave's primary audience consists of individuals actively participating in the cryptocurrency community.

In a market that's becoming increasingly competitive, Aave stands out with several unique selling points. During the DeFi boom of summer 2020, it was among the leading projects by total crypto value locked in its system.

It supports borrowing and lending across approximately 20 different cryptocurrencies, offering users a wide variety of options. One of Aave’s standout features is "flash loans," which are touted as the first uncollateralized loan solutions in the DeFi space, though they must be repaid within the same transaction.

Another key feature is the ability for borrowers to switch between fixed and variable interest rates. Fixed rates can offer some stability in volatile market conditions, while variable rates might be preferable if a borrower anticipates a drop in prices soon.

In November 2017, an initial coin offering was conducted, raising $16.2 million through the sale of one billion AAVE tokens at $0.0162 each. At that time, 23% of the AAVE tokens were allocated to its founders and the project.

AAVE tokens are ERC-20 compliant and designed to be deflationary. If a shortfall arises within the DeFi protocol, staked tokens can be used as collateral as a last resort.

In July 2020, Aave announced a token swap, where 1.3 billion AAVE tokens would be exchanged for the new AAVE cryptocurrency at a 1:100 ratio, resulting in a total supply of 16 million AAVE. Of these, three million would be reserved.

Aave’s open-source protocol is built on Ethereum, which is currently transitioning from a Proof-of-Work to a Proof-of-Stake system.

Major exchanges that list AAVE tokens include CoinDCX, Binance, CoinBene, and OKEx. You can learn more about converting fiat currencies into crypto here.