The $AAVE Token 90 Day Air-Drop

 Hey, have you heard about this new initiative $AAVE is rolling out? It's pretty fascinating. They're distributing a total of $5 million over the next 90 days, with the possibility of extending it further. What's really intriguing is that they're targeting competitors through these airdrops. It's called Merit, and it's their latest alignment reward program.

So, what exactly does Merit entail? Well, today they're kicking off by airdropping 280 wETH to wETH borrowers. And get this, next week, GHO borrowers and stakers are also in line to earn rewards from another airdrop. Initially, $2.1 million in wETH and $2.9 million in GHO will be spent, but they're considering an extension beyond the 90-day mark, pending approval from the $AAVE DAO in April.

Merit is all about rewarding actions that benefit the $AAVE DAO, which is a pretty unique twist in the DeFi landscape. They've got this booster-based reward system in place, which essentially allows users to accumulate points over time. The calculations are kept under wraps to prevent any gaming of the system, but actions like depositing liquid staked tokens or borrowing wETH and GHO are among those rewarded.

Now, there's been some contention surrounding this move, particularly with protocols labeled as "non-aligned." For instance, Morpho $AAVE Optimizers v2 and v3 are facing penalties of severe dilution. Marc Zeller, the founder of ACI, has been vocal about this, claiming these optimizers are essentially siphoning revenue from $AAVE. On the flip side, Paul Frambot, co-founder and CEO of Morpho Labs, argues that their integration actually benefits $AAVE by enhancing efficiency.

Amidst all this, $AAVE remains a powerhouse in the DeFi lending space, boasting a total volume locked (TVL) of $10.29 billion. Morpho, a relative newcomer since its launch last August, isn't far behind with a TVL of $1.78 billion. It's quite a dynamic landscape, wouldn't you say? And it's fascinating to see how $AAVE is navigating these waters while maintaining its position as a leading decentralized cryptocurrency platform.