Aave secures UK and EEA licenses for bank-to-DeFi ramps

Aave Labs announced on May 28 that its UK subsidiaries Push Labs Ltd. and Push Virtual Assets Ltd. received Financial Conduct Authority registrations as cryptoasset exchange providers. The registrations sit on top of a MiCAR CASP license Push Virtual Assets Ireland Limited secured from the Central Bank of Ireland in November 2025, creating a licensing stack that covers the UK and the European Economic Area.

The permissions enable regulated bank-to-stablecoin on- and off-ramps. Founder Stani Kulechov called the capability “next-generation, zero-fee on-chain consumer financial products.” The Irish authorization already supports euro-to-stablecoin conversion; the FCA registrations extend the infrastructure to the UK and preserve EEA passporting via Ireland.

Push is designed to act as a regulated front door to Aave’s lending market: bank accounts convert to stablecoins, which can then flow into GHO, sGHO savings, and borrowing on the Aave App. Aave’s lending market held nearly $14 billion in total value locked and about $10.7 billion in outstanding borrowings, according to DefiLlama. The protocol generates more than $633 million in annualized fees and roughly $81 million in annualized revenue.

A governance audit by Marc Zeller in February estimated Aave Labs’ capitalization at about $86 million, comprising $16.2 million from the 2017 EthLend ICO, $32.5 million in venture funding, $31.9 million in direct DAO payments, and roughly $5.5 million in swap fees the audit characterized as unapproved. The audit said non-core products had not shown cost-per-outcome discipline.

That critique influenced AIP 469, a governance vote that passed with roughly 75% support. The vote established the “Aave Will Win” framework, which requires 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products to be routed to the DAO treasury. In return, Aave Labs received a $25 million stablecoin grant and 75,000 AAVE vesting over 48 months. The Aave Chan Initiative cast 166,200 tokens against the proposal before announcing it would wind down.

Push’s commercial design differs from typical payments businesses that monetize through spreads, interchange, or fees. Aave expects protocol value to accrue when users deposit stablecoins, mint GHO, hold sGHO, and borrow. If 2.5% of converted fiat were retained as Aave deposits, the protocol could capture roughly $500 million in deposits, a scale similar to GHO’s circulating supply of about 584 million tokens.

Push will compete with existing fiat-on-ramp providers and consumer apps that offer integrated bank-to-crypto conversion. The product’s structural features include a non-custodial design and regulated operations in both the UK and the EEA.

Potential limits include users withdrawing stablecoins to external wallets or competing venues rather than depositing into Aave, which would reduce protocol revenue. The UK’s forthcoming Financial Services and Markets Act licensing regime, due to take effect in October 2027, will not automatically convert current Money Laundering Regulation registrations into full authorization, according to the FCA.

Governance alignment between Aave Labs and the DAO is another variable. The Aave Will Win framework routes product revenue to the DAO, but implementation depends on coordination over product design, costs, and reporting.

Metrics to watch as Push launches include ramp volume, the share of converted stablecoins retained as Aave deposits, GHO supply growth, sGHO adoption, and protocol revenue per retained dollar. Regulatory approvals, launch scope in the UK and EEA, and governance reporting will affect how the licensed ramps are used.