Aave V4 launches Equities Hub for tokenized U.S. stocks

Aave V4 has launched the Equities Hub on the Base network, enabling the use of tokenized U.S. stocks as collateral for borrowing USDC. The initial rollout supports seven major equities issued by Coinbase Onchain SPV Ltd.: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.

These tokenized assets provide direct economic exposure to the underlying stocks, which are held in segregated custody by Alpaca Securities LLC. This integration allows eligible non-U.S. investors to access liquidity without selling their equity positions, marking a significant step in the convergence of decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional markets.

Chainlink provides the necessary price feeds for the collateral. However, a notable risk exists due to the mismatch between the 24/7 nature of DeFi and the 24/5 schedule of U.S. equity markets. During weekends and holidays, the oracle prices remain static, meaning collateral valuations may not reflect real-time market shifts until the next session begins. At launch, the market is restricted to USDC borrowing, and specific collateralization ratios vary by stock, ranging from approximately 65% for Tesla and Meta to 79% for Microsoft.