Aave Expands DeFi Reach With Stable Finance Acquisition to Boost Consumer Onchain Services

• Aave Labs has acquired Stable Finance, a San Francisco-based DeFi startup.
• Stable Finance lets users deposit from banks, cards, or wallets to earn yield on stablecoins.
• The deal strengthens Aave’s consumer-facing DeFi offerings.
• Financial terms were not revealed, but the Stable Finance team joins Aave Labs.
• Aave is also growing in institutional markets through its Maple Finance and Horizon initiatives.
• The move comes amid debates over yield-bearing stablecoins and DeFi regulation.

Aave Labs, the company behind one of the world’s largest decentralized lending platforms, has acquired Stable Finance, a San Francisco-based DeFi startup, as part of its plan to expand into consumer-oriented onchain financial services.

Founded in 2023, Stable Finance developed a mobile app that allows users to deposit funds from bank accounts, debit or credit cards, and crypto wallets. These funds are then used to earn yield on stablecoins through overcollateralized decentralized markets, giving users access to DeFi yields with a simple, user-friendly interface.

The deal, announced on Thursday, also means Stable Finance’s founder, Mario Baxter Cabrera, and his engineering team will join Aave Labs. While the financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, the strategic move marks a clear effort by Aave to expand its DeFi ecosystem beyond institutional users and into retail markets.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the acquisition “reinforces our commitment to turning onchain finance into everyday finance,” showing the company’s goal of making decentralized finance more accessible to regular consumers.

This acquisition adds to Aave’s recent wave of institutional partnerships and product launches. The protocol has:

• Integrated Maple Finance’s yield-bearing stablecoins, opening new yield options for users.
  
• Launched Horizon, a marketplace for tokenized real-world assets (RWA), designed for institutional investors.
  

According to DefiLlama, Aave currently holds over $37.25 billion in total value locked (TVL), reinforcing its position as a leading DeFi protocol in the global crypto market.

The Debate Over Yield-Bearing Stablecoins

Aave’s move into consumer DeFi comes at a time when yield-bearing stablecoins are facing regulatory scrutiny. While protocols like Aave and Stable Finance generate yield through overcollateralized lending, similar models have drawn attention from policymakers.

In September, Coinbase integrated the DeFi lending protocol Morpho directly into its app, allowing users to lend USDC and earn yields as high as 10.8% — more than double the 4.5% USDC rewards offered through Coinbase’s standard program. Similarly, Crypto.com partnered with Morpho in October to bring stablecoin lending to its Cronos blockchain, where users can deposit wrapped ETH and borrow stablecoins to earn yield.

However, the GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025, bans yield-bearing stablecoins issued directly by companies but does not restrict DeFi protocols from generating yield through onchain lending markets. This regulatory gap has led to tension between traditional banks and the crypto industry.

Banks argue that such DeFi models create unfair competition, warning they could drain trillions in deposits from the US banking system. On the other hand, crypto companies claim the backlash is motivated by self-interest.

In a September 16 blog post, Coinbase countered that “institutions now warning of ‘systemic risk’ are the same ones pocketing tens of billions from card processing fees, which stablecoins could bypass entirely.” This reflects a growing divide between legacy finance and decentralized finance advocates over how innovation should be regulated.

Final Thoughts

With its acquisition of Stable Finance, Aave Labs is broadening its DeFi reach — connecting the worlds of institutional finance and everyday users. As regulations evolve and demand for onchain yield products grows, Aave’s push into consumer DeFi could make it a key player in shaping the next phase of global decentralized finance.