Aave has activated the first Aave V4 external curator market on Ethereum, with institutional DeFi platform Sentora curating three isolated lending markets on the protocol.
The markets let users borrow Ripple's RLUSD, PayPal's PYUSD and Origin's OUSD against yield-bearing and blue-chip collateral. The launch marks the first real-world deployment of Aave V4's Hub-and-Spoke architecture under external curation, a model the Aave DAO approved through governance.
Three markets, one modular architecture
Sentora, which has allocated more than $2 billion across on-chain strategies, operates three distinct markets. The RLUSD Yield and OUSD Yield markets allow borrowing against USDe, PRIME, mWIN and PST. The Bluechip market lets users borrow RLUSD, PYUSD or OUSD against kBTC.
Each market runs in isolation from Aave's core pools, containing any risk to its own liquidity hub.
Who controls what
Sentora controls collateral selection, risk parameters, interest rates and oracle configuration within its hubs, while the Aave DAO retains ownership of all underlying contracts.
Every risk-increasing parameter change passes through a 48-hour timelock, and new assets must clear an Aave governance review before listing. The markets are live now on Aave Pro.
Regulated stablecoins find a DeFi venue
The choice of RLUSD and PYUSD as borrowable assets is notable: both are regulated, institution-grade stablecoins pushing deeper into decentralized finance. Standard Chartered recently entered the space by launching custody for Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin.
The broader stablecoin market remains dominated by USDT at $183 billion and USDC at $73 billion, with RLUSD and PYUSD carving out niche utility through regulated, compliant pathways. The OCC's finalized GENIUS Act stablecoin rules, effective January 2027, make that pathway clearer for issuers and for protocols willing to list such assets.
Expanding beyond Ethereum
Aave is simultaneously extending the V4 external curator model across chains. After Ethereum, the protocol launched V4 on Avalanche in its first expansion beyond Ethereum, targeting institutional real-world asset and tokenized credit markets.
For AAVE token holders, the Sentora hubs contribute revenue to the DAO. Earlier this year, Coinbase tokenized stocks launched on Aave V4 Base, an example of how new asset classes can move the protocol's total value locked.
