North Star: % of collateralized lending on Aave, trading volume on Kuru.
Partners: Kuru (on-chain orderbook DEX), Aave DAO (v3.7 Monad instance) Duration: 90 days Budget: $2.0M equivalent (MON + partner-side matching; see §6)
| # | Objective | Why it matters for the chain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consolidate liquidity on canonical venues instead of fragmenting across shallow pools | Monad's DEX volume already exceeds $1B/month across many venues; depth concentration is what makes the chain usable for size |
| 2 | Prove the credit flywheel: deposit → borrow → deploy → exit without leaving Monad | Demonstrates Monad as a full-stack DeFi chain, not a farm-and-bridge-out chain |
| 3 | Convert launch capital into resident capital | Aave crossed $100M deposits in 48h on launch incentives; the chain needs that capital to survive the taper |
| 4 | Establish the liquidation-safety story as Monad's DeFi differentiator | Sub-second finality + orderbook depth = liquidations that clear without cascades; a claim no other new L1 is making with data |
| 5 | (Stretch) Open the RWA collateral path | Deep, low-slippage native venues are the prerequisite RWA issuers cite; this campaign builds the evidence base for an Aave governance listing |
Why now. Aave v3.7 is live on Monad ($100M+ deposits in 48h, GHO native). Kuru runs a fully on-chain orderbook. Monad DeFi TVL sits at ~$770M with $1B+/month DEX volume spread across many shallow venues. Deep spot liquidity next to the lending market reduces liquidation risk, makes looping viable, and builds the evidence base RWA issuers ask for.
Most chain incentive programs rent TVL: emissions go to supply-side APY, capital arrives, emissions end, capital leaves, and liquidity fragments across a dozen shallow venues. This campaign rejects that tradeoff. It funds the one thing a lending market structurally needs — sustained orderbook depth at tight spreads on the venue where liquidations and loop exits execute — and links the two protocols with a cross-protocol loop bonus so the incentive itself enforces composability.