Decentralised perpetual futures exchange Grvt has integrated the Aave lending protocol to allow traders to earn yield on margin collateral while keeping derivatives positions open.
The feature is designed to reduce the opportunity cost of idle collateral, with CEO Hong Yea saying most platforms force users to choose between earning yield and maintaining trading margin rather than enabling both simultaneously.
“On most platforms, your capital can only do one thing at a time,”
Yea said, adding that the integration allows traders to deposit once and use the same funds for active margin and lending returns.
At launch, the system applies to Tether collateral, which is tokenised one-to-one and deployed into Aave’s variable lending pools, with yields fluctuating based on borrowing demand.
Yea said that in the event of liquidation, positions are handled as standard USDT margin trades, while funds can be withdrawn from Aave within about 10 minutes to service redemptions.
According to data from DefiLlama, DeFi protocols have generated more than $1 billion in quarterly revenue in recent periods, with derivatives exchanges contributing a significant share.
Yea added that Grvt does not currently take a portion of the Aave yield, suggesting users may receive both lending returns and a share of platform fees as derivatives and lending infrastructure increasingly converge.
The move underscores a broader industry push toward capital efficiency as DeFi platforms compete on sustainable revenue models tied to real economic activity rather than token incentives alone.
At the time of reporting, Aave price was $114.33.