Sentora, an institutional DeFi platform focused on risk-managed strategies, has filed a formal governance proposal to operate independently curated lending markets on Aave V4, starting on Ethereum, with all protocol revenue from the instance split evenly between Sentora and the Aave DAO.

The proposal, submitted as an Aave Request for Final Comments (ARFC), is in the community-feedback stage. It must clear a Snapshot vote before advancing. If approved, Sentora would control collateral selection, risk parameters, and interest rate settings for its markets, while the Aave DAO retains ownership of the underlying smart contracts through its Governance Short Executor.

The revenue split covers everything the instance generates, from reserve factors to liquidation fees. The DAO bears zero operational cost under the arrangement: no infrastructure bills, no risk-management overhead, no personnel expenses.

Hub-and-spoke structure

Sentora's framework builds on Aave V4's modular Hub & Spoke architecture. The proposal names three initial spokes, each focused on yield-bearing blue-chip collateral. Borrowing would be restricted to a specific set of stablecoins: RLUSD (Ripple's stablecoin), PYUSD (PayPal's stablecoin), and OUSD (Origin Dollar).

That borrowing restriction carries a strategic consequence. Limiting the debt side to one institutional-backed pair and two DeFi-native assets channels demand toward those three stablecoins within Aave's ecosystem, deepening their utility while keeping the collateral universe tight and auditable.

Governance guardrails

The proposal embeds several risk controls. Any risk-increasing change carries a 48-hour timelock, giving the community and Aave service providers a window to review and potentially intervene. New asset listings require a two-week review period before activation. Service providers within the Aave ecosystem retain veto capabilities over changes they consider dangerous.

The DAO holds two ultimate levers. It can revoke Sentora's operational roles at any time through a governance vote, or move to rescind Sentora's authority entirely.

V4 momentum and operator track record

The proposal arrives as Aave V4 gains traction. Total value locked in V4 rose from $402 million on September 15 to $660 million by September 29 — a roughly 64% increase in two weeks, according to the figures cited in the proposal discussion.

Sentora brings prior operational history within Aave's infrastructure. The platform previously orchestrated a $100 million ETH loan for Aave V3's Lido markets, a transaction that positions it as an institutional-grade operator capable of handling significant capital flows.

For the Aave DAO, the deal offers a template for monetizing V4's modular design without expanding its own operational surface. For Sentora, it opens a sanctioned path to institutional-scale lending markets under Aave's contract ownership and governance umbrella.

The ARFC now moves through community feedback, with a Snapshot vote as the next procedural gate before any deployment on Ethereum mainnet.