Simple Summary
Every day, billions of dollars sit in Aave’s stablecoin pools, quietly earning yield for lenders. That yield goes one place: back to the person who supplied the stablecoin. Stablecoin for Impact changes nothing about how that works, except to add a choice.
Any depositor can now decide, with a single click, to send a percentage of their yield, not their principal, to a verified project doing measurable good in the world. The first of those projects is UNICEF Giga, which connects schools to the internet. The depositor keeps their money. The protocol keeps working as it always has. The school connectivity bill gets paid from the generated yield. Stablecoin For Impact is live with funds deposited, funding UNICEF’s work.
This post is a temperature check to gauge community sentiment to add a “Stablecoin for Impact” button to the Aave V3 app (https://app.aave.com/) header menu, enabling any stablecoin depositor (USDC, USDT, DAI) to opt in to routing a percentage of their lending yield to verified social impact projects starting with UNICEF Giga’s school connectivity programme.
NOTE: This proposal is jointly submitted by Launchnodes, the builders of SFI, and GSR Foundation, the first institutional donor using the mechanism. This proposal does not seek any treasury funding, grants, or incentives from Aave.
Motivation
Aave is the leading decentralised lending protocol. Its stablecoin pools generate billions in yield annually. Today, that yield flows exclusively back to depositors. This proposal introduces an optional, user-controlled mechanism that allows depositors to direct a portion of their yield toward measurable real-world impact without touching their principal.
Why this matters for Aave:
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Net new TVL from institutional capital. Stablecoin for Impact (SFI) is already live on Aave V3, with GSR Foundation as the first institutional donor routing yield to UNICEF Giga. The mechanism is specifically designed for institutional participants who require capital preservation, full custody control, and transparent onchain reporting. A native integration lowers the barrier for additional institutions to deploy capital into Aave capital that would otherwise remain in traditional finance.
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Differentiation. No major DeFi protocol currently offers a native yield to impact feature. This positions Aave as the first protocol where social impact is a one click option, not a separate product or fork.
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Positive-sum for the ecosystem. SFI does not reduce protocol revenue, redirect fees, or create additional risk through a new token. Depositors who opt in simply choose to route their own yield. The protocol benefits from increased TVL and utilisation, the depositor retains their principal, and verified impact organisations receive sustainable funding.
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Institutional narrative. As DeFi matures and broadens its adoption beyond native crypto users, demonstrating real world utility strengthens Aave’s positioning with institutions, regulators, and the broader public. SFI provides a concrete example of DeFi infrastructure powering measurable social good.
Specification
What is being proposed
A “Stablecoin for Impact” button integrated into the Aave V3 app header menu, accessible from any page. When a user clicks it, they are directed to the SFI platform - a dedicated external interface - where they can:
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Select stablecoin deposits - Choose which of their USDC, USDT, or DAI to allocate.
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Set yield allocation - Choose what percentage of yield from those positions routes to impact.
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Select impact recipient - Initially UNICEF Giga (school connectivity). The framework supports additional verified recipients (Social Impact Organisations) our goal is to make it permissionless.
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Confirm and activate - Deposit through the SFI smart contracts, which interact directly with Aave V3 lending pools.
How it works technically
SFI is built on two core smart contracts:
AaveImpact - The contract that manages deposits and withdrawals. It enables users to deposit ERC20 stablecoins (USDT, USDC, DAI) supported by the Aave protocol, allocating a portion of the yield (defined by the user) to a designated Social Impact Organisation (SIO) while the principal earns yield through Aave’s lending pools. The contract interacts directly with the Aave V3 lending pool for supplying and withdrawing assets. It allows for a percentage of the stablecoin lending yield to be donated to the UNICEF wallet that funds school connectivity (and in time any project wallet) . Deposits and withdrawals are limited to tokens validated by the factory contract.
AaveImpactFactory - The administrative smart contract that acts as the central hub for creating and managing all Social Impact Organisations on the platform. Its primary role is to deploy a new, unique AaveImpact contract for each Social Impact Organisation that is onboarded. Think of it as the main registry that launches and oversees every new impact project.
Yield allocated to impact is sent automatically to the recipient organisation’s wallet via the smart contract; there is no manual intervention or intermediary in the flow.
Full technical documentation: SFI Smart Contract Documentation
Scope of this proposal
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Frontend: Add “Stablecoin for Impact” to the Aave V3 header navigation menu, linking to the dedicated SFI platform which is live and has USDC deployed to fund UNICEF Giga.
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Smart contracts: The AaveImpact and AaveImpactFactory contracts are already deployed and audited. The audit report is publicly available.
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Impact recipients: The initial recipient is UNICEF Giga. The AaveImpactFactory framework supports onboarding additional Social Impact Organisations with a goal to make it permissionless.
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Chain: Ethereum mainnet.
Rationale
Why the header menu
Placing SFI in the header menu on -app.aave.com/ alongside existing navigation items like Dashboard, Markets, and Governance signals that yield to impact is a feature the Aave ecosystem endorses. It ensures visibility without disrupting existing user flows. Users who are not interested simply never click it. Users who are interested discover it immediately rather than needing to find a separate platform.
Why stablecoins only
Stablecoins are the lowest-risk, most predictable yield source on Aave. Limiting SFI to USDC, USDT, and DAI keeps the mechanism simple, avoids volatility related complications in yield calculation, and operates within Aave V3’s eMode for maximum capital efficiency. This also aligns with institutional requirements participants like GSR Foundation specifically chose stablecoins for capital preservation. The reduced price volatility of stablecoins allows The GSR Foundation and Launchnodes to target institutional non crypto capital specifically, CSR teams, Foundations and Corporates.
Why UNICEF Giga as the first recipient
UNICEF Giga is a global initiative to connect every school to the internet. It publishes real time school connectivity data at maps.giga.global, enabling depositors to see exactly where their yield is making a difference. The partnership provides institutional credibility, transparent impact measurement, and a clear real world use case that the broadest possible community can support.
Risk assessment
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Smart contract risk: The AaveImpact and AaveImpactFactory contracts have been independently audited. The contracts only have permission to interact with Aave lending pools for the specific deposited tokens they cannot move principal beyond the user’s explicit instructions. Users can always withdraw their deposited funds.
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Protocol risk: None. SFI does not modify Aave’s core lending logic, interest rate models, or liquidation mechanisms. It operates as a layer on top of existing Aave V3 functionality.
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Regulatory risk: SFI strengthens Aave’s regulatory narrative. Demonstrating verifiable social impact funded through DeFi infrastructure is a positive signal to regulators globally.
Current Status
SFI is already live on Aave V3 on Ethereum mainnet. GSR Foundation is the first institutional donor, actively routing stablecoin lending yield to UNICEF Giga’s school connectivity programme. This is not a theoretical proposal; the mechanism is operational, audited, and generating real impact today. Supported by UNICEF and The GSR Foundation.
This proposal asks for $0 of funding. Rather this proposal asks to make SFI discoverable to every Aave user through a header menu link, rather than requiring users to find the SFI platform independently.
This proposal does not ask for any funding.
Next Steps
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Community discussion on this temperature check
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If sentiment is positive, develop a formal ARFC
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Snapshot vote
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On-chain governance vote
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Frontend integration of the header menu link
About the Team
Launchnodes
Launchnodes is the team behind Stablecoin for Impact. Launchnodes has a track record of building impact-focused infrastructure in the Ethereum ecosystem:
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Ethereum Foundation / Government of Rwanda / UNICEF Giga pilot: Launchnodes served as the implementation partner for a pilot connecting Ethereum staking infrastructure with UNICEF Giga’s school connectivity programme in Rwanda.
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Lido Impact Staking (LIS): Launched to make impact staking accessible to users who don’t have 32 ETH to run their own validator node, enabling anyone to stake through Lido while routing staking rewards to social impact.
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Stablecoin for Impact (SFI): The latest product, extending the impact model from staking yield to stablecoin lending yield on Aave V3, with GSR Foundation as the first institutional donor.
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Website: impactstake.com
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Technical docs: -launchnodes.gitbook.io/stablecoin-for-impact-sfi/contracts
GSR Foundation
GSR Foundation is the philanthropic arm of GSR, a leading digital assets trading firm. GSR Foundation is the first institutional donor to deploy capital through SFI, routing Aave V3 stablecoin lending yield to UNICEF Giga’s school connectivity programme. Their participation validates the SFI mechanism at an institutional level demonstrating that DeFi yield can be channelled toward social impact in a way that meets institutional standards for capital preservation, custody, and transparency.
Disclosure - Conflicts of Interest
In the interest of full transparency:
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Launchnodes is the builder and operator of the SFI platform. The platform applies a 5% fee on yield donations routed to Social Impact Organisations. This fee exists to cover ongoing platform costs (infrastructure, maintenance, security), which currently amount to approximately $200,000 per year. At current TVL levels, the fee does not cover these costs. Launchnodes subsidises the difference and will continue to do so. A very substantial increase in TVL would be required before the platform becomes self-sustaining through the fee alone.
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GSR Foundation is the first institutional donor using SFI. GSR Foundation does not receive any financial benefit from this proposal. Their participation is philanthropic.
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Neither Launchnodes nor GSR Foundation holds a governance position in the Aave DAO. This proposal does not seek any treasury funding, grants, or token incentives from Aave. The sole ask is a frontend header link to the external SFI platform.
We welcome all feedback, questions, and suggestions from the Aave community. This proposal is designed to be collaborative. The goal is to build something that makes Aave the platform for a new more sustainable model for philanthropy.