Aave's GHO Stablecoin Now Live on Arbitrum Powered by Chainlink CCIP

LONDON, July 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Following community discussions and voting, the Aave DAO has launched GHO on the Arbitrum network – the DAO's first new market in its phased GHO cross-chain expansion strategy. GHO, the multi-collateralized stablecoin native to the Aave Protocol, will utilize the industry standard Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and rollout progressively, beginning with Arbitrum as the first network and expanding over time to other networks. The expanded availability of GHO beyond Ethereum mainnet aims to increase accessibility, lower transaction costs, enhance the user experience, and improve liquidity, fostering greater adoption and spurring innovation. Although GHO is issued on Ethereum mainnet, the cross-chain strategy enabled by Chainlink CCIP will open the door to integration opportunities and new use cases. With the expansion to Arbitrum, the largest Layer 2 network with $17.7B in TVL, GHO becomes a borrowable asset in the Aave Arbitrum pool, making GHO more available in a cost effective way with additional use cases expected to follow.

"Congratulations to the Aave community on achieving this milestone for GHO's expansion beyond Ethereum mainnet to Arbitrum," said Aave Labs Founder and CEO Stani Kulechov. "The DAO's measured approach to making GHO more accessible, aligns perfectly with its commitment to stability and risk management. Integrating with other networks will lower fees, offer faster transactions, and enhance liquidity, making GHO more attractive to users and ushering in a variety of new use cases, including GHO digital payments."

"We are excited to see that the Aave DAO has chosen Arbitrum as the first platform to launch its GHO stablecoin. This integration is poised to revolutionize accessibility, lower transaction costs, and unlock unprecedented liquidity. As decentralized finance continues to advance, we are looking forward to seeing more transformative new use cases across Arbitrum." said Nina Rong, Head of Ecosystem Development at The Arbitrum Foundation

"Excited to see that the Aave community has voted to choose the security of Chainlink's CCIP as its interoperability solution for cross-chain GHO transfers. I have always seen the developers of Aave prioritize security, thanks to their deep understanding of the dynamics around keeping user value secure. CCIP does provide a large improvement on the security of other cross-chain systems, which is what will come to define it as the leading cross-chain infrastructure, just like the security of Chainlink Data Feeds is what led them to become the leading source of data in DeFi," said Sergey Nazarov, Co-Founder of Chainlink.

For secure and cost-effective GHO cross-chain transfers, the Aave DAO chose CCIP, which is compatible with both EVM and non-EVM networks, enhances risk mitigation, security, and user experience through advanced features and mechanisms like rate limits, flexible billing, Programmable Token Transfers, a well-audited codebase, and a first of its kind separateRisk Management Network. Additionally, CCIP's cross-chain security innovations empower the DAO through important risk management levers such as configurable rate limits and the ability to control GHO bridge logic. Backed by Chainlink's battle-tested infrastructure, CCIP is widely adopted across  DeFi and capital markets and supports existing Aave deployments, helping to ensure smooth and secure cross-chain expansion for GHO.

GHO was designed to be a secure multi-chain stablecoin architectured for flexibility. Arbitrum has, and every chain with GHO in the future will have, its own GHO version, backed by reserves on Ethereum, for sufficient collateralization. For secure cross-chain transfers between Ethereum and non-Ethereum chains like Arbitrum, GHO uses a lock-and-mint model enabled by CCIP, where tokens are locked on Ethereum while an equivalent amount is minted on the other network, keeping the total supply constant. As additional chains are supported, transfers between non-Ethereum chains will use a burn-and-mint model enabled by CCIP for maximum capital efficiency and fungibility, while still being backed by reserves on Ethereum. This ensures security and flexibility for GHO's future expansion across multiple blockchains.

As described in the proposal, the DAO opted to implement its cross-chain strategy in a phased rollout, initially launching with a single network, rigorously evaluating the implementation, and progressively extending to additional networks. After public discussion in the Aave forum, where different network opportunities were presented, the DAO chose Arbitrum as the best option for the initial cross-chain rollout. The integration of GHO into the Arbitrum Aave pool as a borrowable asset marks a significant initial step for GHO on this network and serves a dual benefit: it allows users to supply GHO in exchange for yield, fostering initial demand, and it gives all Arbitrum users access to a new stablecoin option for borrowing. This not only aids in diversifying the risk across different assets but also lays the groundwork for the development of additional products and features.

To facilitate the launch the Arbitrum DAO have allocated 750,000 ARB through the Long-Term Incentives Pilot Program. Aave DAO service provider ACI has facilitated an incentive campaign from the Arbitrum ecosystem to foster growth on Arbitrum. Incentives will be available for the DAO, so service providers can use them. The Aave Liquidity Committee will make use of these incentives to enhance liquidity.

The information contained in this press release is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or representation, express or implied, for the purchase or sale of any product or service. This release may contain forward-looking statements and is subject to change without notice. Neither Chainlink Labs Avara or The Arbitrum Foundation makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this release and neither party shall have any liability for any errors, incompleteness, interruption or delay in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Additional Resources:

You can find relevant documentation and resources about GHO here.

For more information on the DAO cross-chain strategy and rollout plan, please visit the Aave Community Forum here.

For more information on CCIP, go to the official Chainlink documentation.

For information on Arbitrum, please visit here.

Aave Protocol:
Aave is a non-custodial, open-sourced decentralized liquidity protocol that allows users to act as depositors and earn passive income, as well as borrow a wide range of digital assets without the need of third-party intermediaries. Core capabilities include risk mitigation features such as supply and borrow caps, and flash loans which allow users to borrow and repay assets within the same blockchain transaction block. GHO is a decentralized, overcollateralized stablecoin that is native to the Aave Protocol. The Aave Protocol is fully governed by the Aave Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Visit https://governance.aave.com/ to learn more and take part in Aave Governance.  

Aave Labs
Focused on decentralized finance, Aave Labs is part of Avara. The team built the Aave Protocol and GHO and is a technical contributor to the Aave Protocol. GHO, the Aave-native stablecoin,  is backed by multiple collaterals available in Aave V3 and is designed to serve as the internet payment layer.

About Chainlink
Chainlink is the industry-standard decentralized computing platform powering the verifiable web. Chainlink has enabled over $12 trillion in transaction value by providing financial institutions, startups, and developers worldwide with access to real-world data, offchain computation, and secure cross-chain interoperability across any blockchain. Chainlink powers verifiable applications and high-integrity markets for banking, DeFi, global trade, gaming, and other major sectors.

Learn more about Chainlink by visiting chain.link or reading the developer documentation at docs.chain.link.

About The Arbitrum Foundation
The Arbitrum Foundation is a Cayman Islands foundation company that is tasked with shepherding and nurturing the Arbitrum ecosystem. Abritrum is controlled by the Arbitrum DAO and The Foundation operates as a neutral steward in order to support the ArbitrumDAO, the continuous innovation of the Arbitrum technology and the development and education of the Arbitrum community.

You can learn more about the Foundation and Arbitrum at https://docs.arbitrum.foundation/gentle-intro-dao-governance

SOURCE Chainlink; Arbitrum Foundation; Aave Labs