Crypto Asset Management Giant Grayscale Launches New Trust for DeFi Protocol Aave

The crypto asset management giant Grayscale has launched a new trust that offers investors exposure to the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Aave (AAVE).

The crypto firm‘s new product is solely invested in Aave’s native token and functions like the companys other single-asset trusts.

Aave, which launched back in 2017, aims to serve as a decentralized liquidity protocol for lenders and borrowers. Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscales head of product and research, says in a press release that the project has “the potential to revolutionize traditional finance.”

“By leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts, Aaves decentralized platform aims to optimize lending and borrowing while removing intermediaries and reducing reliance on human judgment.”

In a bid to diversify its investment offerings, Grayscale has launched a flurry of new products recently, including trusts for the payments altcoin XRP, the layer-1 Ethereum (ETH) competitor Avalanche (AVAX), the DeFi platform Maker (MKR), the machine learning marketplace Bittensor (TAO) and the smart contract platform Sui Network (SUI).

AAVE is trading at $142.49 at time of writing. The 43rd-ranked crypto asset by market cap is up nearly 4% in the past 24 hours, outpacing the overall crypto market cap, which is down 1.6%. AAVE remains down by nearly 14% in the past seven days, however.