Aave V4 on Base adds Coinbase tokenized stocks as collateral for USDC loans

Aave has opened an Equities Hub on its V4 protocol deployment on Base, allowing eligible users outside the United States to post tokenized stocks issued by Coinbase as collateral and borrow USDC against them.

The hub went live on Friday with seven tokenized U.S. equities tracking Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia, plus Tesla. Aave said the assets are available to eligible non-U.S. users in permitted jurisdictions. The equities are collateral-only at launch, and Chainlink provides onchain pricing through its tokenized equity feeds.

"Public equities are one of the largest pools of capital in the world, and tokenization is starting to bring that capital onchain," Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov said. He added that a tokenized stock had until now been something users could hold or trade, whereas it can now be borrowed against.

Risk provider LlamaRisk set an initial collateral cap of roughly $29 million across the seven stocks, alongside a $32 million USDC supply cap and a $21 million USDC borrow cap. Collateral factors range from 65% to 79%, depending on the equity.

Pooled collateral in a single USDC market

The hub uses Aave's Hub and Spoke architecture to pool the equity collateral into one market with a single USDC reserve. Risk parameters are configured per asset so that issues affecting one stock stay isolated from the others, and the market operates around the clock, according to Aave. Additional Coinbase tokenized stocks and GHO as a borrowable asset could be added over time, subject to governance and risk review.

Chainlink chief business officer Johann Eid called the integration a major step toward bringing the $150 trillion-plus global equities market onchain. Base head of growth Antonio García-Martínez said eligible customers outside the U.S. can use the stocks to borrow USDC, while USDC suppliers can earn interest.

The launch fits Kulechov's broader push into tokenized securities and other real-world assets. He has argued that tokenization is no longer a technology problem but a go-to-market one, saying institutions "come with size" and could drive onchain borrowing demand. His comments came after the Senate voted 49-50 against advancing the Clarity Act. Aave said it has processed $3.6 trillion in cumulative deposits and more than $1 trillion in all-time loans.