How to Buy Aave (AAVE) in Australia

Aave (AAVE) is the governance token of the Aave protocol, an open-source, non-custodial lending market that runs on Ethereum and several other networks. The protocol lets people supply crypto into shared liquidity pools to earn interest, or borrow against crypto they lock up as collateral, all handled automatically by smart contracts rather than a bank or broker. Non-custodial means users keep control of their assets through those contracts instead of handing them to a company.

AAVE itself is an ERC-20 token. Holding it gives you a vote in Aave Governance, where the community decides on protocol settings and upgrades, and it can also be placed in the protocol's Safety Module, a pool that helps backstop the system in exchange for rewards. On Digital Surge, AAVE is categorised as a Decentralised Finance (DeFi) asset and is tradeable and swaps-enabled.

• Token type: an ERC-20 token on Ethereum (AAVE is a token, not its own chain).
• Protocol: a non-custodial lending market for supplying and borrowing crypto.
• Governance: AAVE holders vote on protocol parameters and upgrades.
• Networks: deployed on Ethereum plus chains such as Polygon, Avalanche and Arbitrum.
• Created by: Stani Kulechov, who first launched it as ETHLend in 2017.

Who created Aave?

Aave was founded by Stani Kulechov, who launched the project in 2017 as ETHLend, an early platform for matching crypto lenders and borrowers directly. In September 2018 it was renamed Aave, the Finnish word for "ghost", and its design shifted away from one-to-one loans toward shared liquidity pools that made lending and borrowing faster and more flexible. The lending protocol went live on Ethereum in January 2020 and has since shipped in public versions, with a second version arriving in December 2020 and a third in March 2022.

How does the Aave protocol work?

Aave runs entirely on smart contracts. People who supply assets deposit them into pools and earn a share of the interest paid by borrowers, while borrowers must post more value in collateral than they take out, which protects the pool if prices move. One of Aave's best-known features is the flash loan: an uncollateralised loan that must be borrowed and repaid within a single Ethereum transaction, used by developers for tasks such as refinancing and arbitrage. Because everything happens on-chain, anyone can inspect how the protocol behaves.

What is the AAVE token used for?

The AAVE token has two main roles. First, it is a governance token: holders and their delegates can propose and vote on changes to the protocol, from risk settings to which assets are supported and how the treasury is used. Second, AAVE can be placed in the Safety Module, where it helps cover the protocol in a shortfall in exchange for rewards. The protocol has also introduced a native stablecoin, GHO, as part of its wider ecosystem. This is general information only, not advice.

Can you stake AAVE on Digital Surge?

Placing AAVE in the Safety Module is a feature of the Aave protocol itself, not something offered on Digital Surge. On the Digital Surge platform, AAVE is tradeable and swaps-enabled, so you can buy it, sell it for AUD or swap it for other supported coins, but there is no AAVE staking product here. If you want to take part in the Safety Module or in governance, you would move your AAVE to a self-custody Ethereum wallet and interact with the protocol directly.

Things to consider before buying Aave

Cryptocurrency is volatile, and the AUD value of AAVE can rise or fall sharply over short periods, so the value of what you hold may change quickly. DeFi tokens also carry their own risks, including bugs in smart contracts and shifts in how a protocol is governed. Digital assets are not covered by government guarantees the way bank deposits are. This is general information only and not a recommendation. Consider your own circumstances, do your own research, and speak to a qualified professional about tax before buying.

Why Buy Aave?

Many Australians hold Aave because it is one of the longest-running lending protocols in decentralised finance, its AAVE token carries a real vote over how the protocol is run, and it operates across several major networks. Digital Surge lets you buy AAVE with AUD via PayID or bank transfer, with Australian-based support. This is general information only and not a recommendation; consider your own circumstances before buying any cryptocurrency.

Buying Aave in Australia: the quick recap

To buy Aave in Australia on Digital Surge: create a free account, verify your ID, deposit AUD via PayID or bank transfer, then buy Aave. The whole process takes about five minutes, and your Aave is held safely in your Digital Surge wallet.

Learn more about Aave

On Digital Surge you can see the live Aave price and AAVE to AUD converter, see other coins in the Decentralised Finance category, or read what cryptocurrency is before you buy Aave in Australia.