Aave was originally launched as ETHLend, a lending platform which was founded in 2017 by Stani Kulechov. 

The ETHLend ICO held in November 2017 raised $16.2 million. 

ETHLend rebranded to Aave in September 2018, as it shifted from a peer-to-peer lending platform to a lending pool model.

Aave is constantly auditing and improving the Aave Protocol. Funds are stored on a non-custodial smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. You control your wallet. Regulated and auditable by code.

To ensure top notch security, Aave Protocol has had audits by Trail of Bits and Open Zeppelin. There is also an ongoing bug bounty program, where community members can report any bugs or vulnerabilities and earn a reward of up to USD 25,000$. Find more info on security here.

Aave is a DeFi money market protocol on Ethereum. Users can lend assets to earn interest on them and borrow assets with a stable or variable interest rate. 

Aave includes notable distinguishing features such as uncollateralized loans (Flash Loans) and “rate switching”, which allows users to switch between stable or variable interest rates to get the optimal rate when borrowing.