Ethena Pay has launched Earn+, an optional rewards product that links a consumer-facing dollar balance to an on-chain lending strategy using Aave V4 on Avalanche. Aave Labs described the integration on October 28, identifying separate providers for the app, vault infrastructure, strategy and lending markets. Earn+ deposits enter an Upshift vault curated by Steakhouse; the strategy supplies USDe and borrows USDT. Users choose how much of their balance to allocate, with withdrawals processed within 24 hours under the stated product terms. Aave said it does not operate, curate or manage the vault.
The layered design means borrowing costs, fees, liquidation parameters and smart-contract behavior all influence net rewards. A higher cost of borrowing can reduce the margin that supports rewards even without a sharp move in collateral prices. Aave’s protocol changelog records the Avalanche deployment of V4 in July, including its Hub and Spoke structure. The Earn+ integration uses that lending infrastructure as one component of a broader customer product.
On November 2, 2026, Avalanche reported that Aave V4 deposits on its network hit an all-time high of $125 million. The surge was partly driven by Ethena Pay’s Earn+ feature. The milestone highlights growing adoption of Aave’s platform and could reshape the competitive DeFi landscape on Avalanche, with market participants watching for further institutional engagement and shifts in market dynamics.
