stkGHO, issued by the Aave Protocol smart contracts under the governance of AAVE, stkAAVE and aAAVE tokenholders, is a tokenized staking position representing GHO deposited in the protocol safety module to backstop shortfall events [S1][S2].

Holders deposit GHO, the decentralised, over-collateralised, fully backed USD-pegged stablecoin native to the Aave Protocol, into the Umbrella safety module and earn safety incentives for providing shortfall protection [S2][S1]. In exchange, the staked GHO is subject to slashing, meaning tokens can be reduced to cover protocol deficits, with slashing automated based on actual deficit levels; the safety module has historically never been slashed [S1].

No single corporate entity issues this token; positions are minted and burned deterministically by smart contracts under Aave Governance, the Aave DAO, composed of AAVE, stkAAVE and aAAVE tokenholders on Ethereum mainnet [S1][S3]. Aave Labs brings the services but does not control or operate the Protocol, and no central entity can freeze or alter user positions [S4][S1]. The Terms of Service are governed by the laws of the Cayman Islands [S4]. Access is restricted for persons in sanctioned territories, persons on OFAC sanctions lists, and persons suspected of money laundering or fraud [S4]. Holders retain self-custody, as no entity holds user funds [S2].

Staked GHO derives from GHO, an ERC-20 token deployed on Ethereum mainnet with EIP-2612 permit support and multi-chain reach across Arbitrum, Base, Avalanche, Gnosis and Mantle via Chainlink CCIP [S2]. Staking and unstaking settle onchain through the safety module under DAO governance, with slashing executed automatically against actual deficits [S1].

<Sources
  retrievedAt="2026-06-18"
  items={[
    { id: "S1", url: "https://aave.com/faq" },
    { id: "S2", url: "https://aave.com/docs/ecosystem/gho" },
    { id: "S3", url: "https://aave.com" },
    { id: "S4", url: "https://aave.com/terms-of-service" },
  ]}
/>


# Asset holders methodology

## 1. Overview

Asset holders is measured as the number of unique addresses that hold a non-zero balance of a project’s assets. This metric is used by investors to track the expansion or contraction of the asset holder base over time. Data is aggregated daily for each tracked asset across all supported blockchain networks.

## 2. Data sources

- **EVM chain data**: Ledger state and ERC-20 `Transfer` events, covering EVM-compatible chains (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Optimism, and others).
- **Solana instructions**: SPL token account data and transfer instructions.
- **Other chain types**: Account and balance data from Aptos, Near, and Polkadot Asset Hub.
- **Asset metadata**: Token contract addresses and decimal precision retrieved from asset metadata.

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: Address balance identification

- **Purpose**: Identify all unique addresses associated with a specific token and determine their current holdings.
- **Logic**: For EVM-compatible chains, balances are derived by parsing ERC-20 `Transfer` events or by querying the ledger state for all addresses that have interacted with the token contract. On Solana, account balances are retrieved from the SPL token program. Similar account-based balance records are extracted for Aptos, Near, and Polkadot Asset Hub to identify the population of potential holders.
- **Key fields**: `token_address` (the contract address of the asset), `address` (the unique identifier of the holder), `timestamp` (the time of the state record).

### Component B: Normalization and non-zero filtering

- **Purpose**: Ensure token amounts are accurate and exclude addresses that no longer hold the asset.
- **Logic**: Decimal precision is retrieved from token metadata for each asset. All raw amounts are normalized by decimal precision. A filter is applied to exclude any address where the resulting balance is zero. Only addresses with a positive balance are retained for the final count.
- **Key fields**: `amount` (the normalized quantity of tokens held), `decimals` (the precision factor for the asset).

### Component C: Daily aggregation and gap filling

- **Purpose**: Calculate the final daily count and ensure continuity in the time series.
- **Logic**: Unique addresses are counted for each asset per chain on a daily grain. The data is combined across all chains to provide a total holder count per asset. For days where no new balance changes are recorded, the metric is filled with zero values or the previous known state is maintained to ensure a continuous daily record.
- **Key fields**: `asset_holders` (the count of unique addresses), `timestamp` (the day of the observation).

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

Unique addresses holding a non-zero balance of the asset.

Asset holders

Tokenized funds

Lenders deposit funds into Aave and receive interest payments from borrowers (supply-side fees).

Aave is a non-custodial lending protocol built on Ethereum and other adjacent blockchains. Aave was founded by Stani Kulechov and launched in 2017.

AAVE tokenholders own and govern the protocol. They currently take a cut of the total interest paid by borrowers (revenue). Aave’s investors include ParaFi Capital, Framework Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, etc.

governance

github

twitter

discord

etherscan

website

Lending

Aave

Aave | Data breakdown

Aave Staked GHO (Ethereum) (stkGHO) is a tokenized fund share issued by Aave.

Retail investors, professional investors, accredited investors, qualified investors, qualified purchasers, and institutions can mint and redeem directly with Aave in GHO, and holders have a right to redeem at net asset value.

stkGHO has been issued on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token since January 2024.

Aave Staked GHO (Ethereum)stkGHO