Chains Being Abandoned
Published 7/31/2026, 10:07:48 PM
As of July 2026, Aave is in the process of abandoning six blockchain deployments and offboarding 50 low-adoption asset reserves across 11 other chains. This strategic "cleanup" is driven by a new Risk Framework introduced in June 2026, aimed at removing markets where revenue fails to cover the operational costs of oracles, monitoring, and security [Source: https://governance.aave.com/t/arfc-low-adoption-asset-deprecation-on-aave-v3/25401].
Chains Being Abandoned
The following six chains are being sunset due to extreme declines in adoption—ranging from 74% to 95% drops in deposits over the last six months—and negligible revenue generation.
| Chain | 6-Month Deposit Decline | Current Deposits | Quarterly Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soneium | -95% | Minimal | <$1,000 |
| Aptos | -94% | ~$1.7M | <$1,000 |
| zkSync | -88% | ~$844K | <$5,000 |
| Scroll | -86% | ~$2.2M | <$5,000 |
| Metis | -79% | ~$1M | <$1,000 |
| Sonic | -74% | ~$7.6M | <$5,000 |
Strategic Rationale
- Operational Deficit: Each of these six chains generates less than $5,000 per quarter. This is insufficient to cover the costs of maintaining Chainlink oracles, liquidation bots, and protocol monitoring [Source: https://governance.aave.com/t/arfc-low-adoption-asset-deprecation-on-aave-v3/25401].
- Revenue Disparity: For context, Aave's Ethereum mainnet deployment generates over $142 million per year, while the Metis deployment generates roughly $3,000 per year [Source: https://governance.aave.com/t/arfc-low-adoption-asset-deprecation-on-aave-v3/25401].
- Risk Reduction: The Aave DAO is consolidating from 23 chains down to 17 to reduce exposure to thin liquidity and bridge risks, following a $292M exploit on KelpDAO in April 2026 [Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/aave-moves-to-retire-50-low-adoption-assets-wind-down-six-chains].
Asset Offboarding
Beyond full chain exits, Aave is retiring approximately $98.1 million in specific assets across its remaining 17 chains. Notable deprecations include:
- Bitcoin Wrappers: FBTC and eBTC on Ethereum, which saw supply drop from ~$72M to ~$16M.
- Bridged Stablecoins: Phasing out bridged variants like
USDC.eandUSDbCin favor of native USDC. - Sunset Tokens: MaticX is being removed because the issuer, Stader Labs, is sunsetting the token [Source: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/30/the-economics-behind-the-aave-proposal-to-ditch-6-chains-that-earn-chump-change].
Wind-Down Mechanics for Users
Aave is not force-liquidating users but is using economic "nudges" to encourage voluntary exits:
- Freezing: Markets are frozen to new deposits or borrowing.
- Interest Hikes: The "Reserve Factor" is raised to 99%, meaning nearly all interest paid by borrowers goes to the Aave Treasury rather than suppliers [Source: https://governance.aave.com/t/arfc-low-adoption-asset-deprecation-on-aave-v3/25401].
- Base Rate: A 5% base borrowing rate is introduced to make maintaining existing debt positions prohibitively expensive [Source: https://governance.aave.com/t/arfc-low-adoption-asset-deprecation-on-aave-v3/25401].
In summary, Aave is exiting Soneium, Aptos, zkSync, Scroll, Metis, and Sonic to focus resources on high-revenue deployments and minimize operational risk.