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Editorial policyBenqi Finance operates two products on Avalanche: Benqi Lending (money markets for AVAX, USDC, and other assets — similar to Aave) and Benqi Liquid Staking (sAVAX — liquid staked AVAX). The QI token governs the protocol. Benqi is the dominant DeFi protocol native to Avalanche by TVL.
Benqi is Avalanche's leading lending protocol and liquid staking provider — offering qiTokens for lending and sAVAX for staked AVAX exposure.
Market context
DeFiLlamaSkip this What is Benqi Finance? Avalanche Lending and Liquid Staking Explained explainer if you wanted a first wallet setup or a CEX account. It covers how the protocol works and who it is not for. How-tos and comparisons are linked where they exist.
Related comparisons
Benqi launched in 2021 as Avalanche's first major native lending protocol and expanded into liquid staking with sAVAX. It remains deeply integrated in the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem with partnerships across the Avalanche subnet landscape.
Benqi Lending uses an Aave-like pooled model; sAVAX allows AVAX holders to earn staking rewards while using the token in DeFi.
Convex, Curve, Resupply, Inverse Finance and Frax share collateral, gauges and stablecoin rails. Read the flywheel first if you are new to the stack.
FAQ
Benqi is a lending and liquid staking protocol native to Avalanche.
sAVAX is Benqi's liquid staking token for AVAX.
Aave deploys on Avalanche; Benqi is Avalanche-native with sAVAX integration.
QI is Benqi's governance token.
Venus Protocol is the dominant decentralised money market on BNB Chain, with over $1.2 billion in TVL in its Core Pool. Originally forked from Compound and MakerDAO, Venus has evolved into a multi-pool lending ecosystem with its own stablecoin VAI and an XVS token governance system. This guide explains how Venus works and answers the most common questions.
Avalanche is a high-speed Layer-1 blockchain with a unique three-chain architecture and subnet customisation capability — home to a vibrant DeFi ecosystem including Trader Joe, Benqi, and a growing institutional subnet ecosystem that has attracted major financial institutions to deploy on its custom blockchains.
Aave is the default multi-chain DeFi lending market. V4 (Ethereum, 30 March 2026) uses a Hub for liquidity and Spokes for the market you actually click. Supply for a variable rate, or borrow and watch health factor — including V4’s target-health-factor liquidations.