Aave founder Stani Kulechov is backing a sweeping cleanup of the protocol's lending markets. The move will see Aave wind down deployments on six blockchains and remove dozens of lightly used asset markets, affecting $98.1 million in deposits. The decision, driven by rising multichain costs, marks one of the biggest strategic retrenchments by a major DeFi protocol this year.
The $98M cleanup
Aave plans to remove 50 asset markets across six blockchains. The overhaul touches $98.1 million in deposits — a relatively small slice of Aave's total locked value, but a significant operational shift. The affected chains haven't been named publicly yet, but the protocol is preparing to wind down deployments on each of them. The removals target markets that have seen light usage, where the cost of maintaining liquidity and oracle feeds outweighs the benefit.
Why now?
Rising multichain costs are the main driver. As Aave expanded to more networks over the past few years, the overhead of running separate deployments — including bridge infrastructure, oracle updates, and governance overhead — has grown. Kulechov's backing signals that the protocol's leadership sees the cleanup as necessary to keep the core lending business efficient. The timing isn't great for the broader multichain thesis, but Aave is prioritizing capital efficiency over breadth.
What users need to know
Depositors in the affected markets will need to withdraw their funds before the wind-down completes. Aave hasn't set a hard deadline yet, but the process is expected to take several weeks. Users on the six chains will see their markets gradually disabled — first borrowing, then lending, then full removal. The protocol has said it will give advance notice before any forced withdrawals. For now, the $98.1 million at risk is a fraction of Aave's total deposits, but anyone with assets in those markets should move quickly.
Aave's strategic shift
The cleanup is a clear signal that Aave is pulling back from its multichain expansion. The protocol rose to prominence on Ethereum, then spread to Polygon, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, and others. But maintaining each deployment costs real money — in gas, in developer time, in security audits. By cutting the least-used markets, Aave can focus resources on its core chains. Kulechov's public backing gives the plan legitimacy and suggests the Aave DAO will approve the proposal when it comes to a vote. The next concrete step is a formal governance proposal, expected within the next two weeks.
