This page may contain stale information. Last updated: 2026-06-27
Definition
Securities lending is the practice of temporarily transferring securities (stocks, bonds) to borrowers who post collateral, typically to facilitate short selling, hedging, or settlement. A 35B annual revenue (2025 record ~$15B).
Key Points
- Intermediaries: Prime brokers, custodians, clearinghouses capture 50–85% of borrow fees
- On-chain opportunity: aave V4 targets direct lending of tokenized securities without rehypothecation
- Related markets: Repo (1.3T), securities-backed loans ($400B+ wealth management)
DeFi Convergence
aave proposes tokenized stocks as collateral for stablecoin borrowing and direct securities lending for yield. Requires oracle infrastructure, KYC-compliant pools, and regulatory pathways for tokenized RWAs.