Lending protocol Aave has taken action in response to the recent price volatility of stablecoins. On March 11, the USD Coin (USDC) ticker depegged, prompting Aave to freeze stablecoins trading and set Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio to zero. Aave’s decision followed an analysis from DeFi’s risk manager company Gauntlet, which recommended that all V2 and V3 markets should be temporarily paused.
The main concern for Aave is the potential risk of insolvencies due to the volatile nature of stablecoins. Gauntlet analyzed different scenarios, considering that the price of USDC stabilizes, recovers, or declines significantly. At current prices, insolvencies are estimated to be around $550,000, but this could change depending on the price trajectory and further depegs.
Moreover, on-chain liquidity has declined meaningfully, making liquidations more difficult. For example, account 18 was not liquidated when it was at a health factor below 1, and any liquidations on this account going forward will only prevent the account from recovering and provide no benefit to the protocol.
Aave’s decision to freeze stablecoin trading and set LTV ratio to zero aims to mitigate these risks and protect the protocol and its users. The trading freeze applies to all V2 and V3 markets, and Aave has urged the community to follow Gauntlet’s recommendation.
This situation highlights the importance of risk management in decentralized finance (DeFi) and the need for protocols to be able to adapt to changing market conditions. While DeFi offers many benefits, it also poses significant risks, and protocols must be able to respond quickly to mitigate these risks.
Aave’s decision to freeze stablecoin trading and set LTV ratio to zero is a responsible action that shows its commitment to protecting its users and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the protocol. It will be interesting to see how the market responds to this decision and whether other protocols will follow suit in the coming days.
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