Aave has frozen tBTC on its V3 Ethereum Core market after Threshold Network pre-emptively paused tBTC mints and redeems on Oct. 31, 2026. The protocol said it is in contact with the Threshold team and is tracking further updates while the pause remains in place.

The action was designed to stop Aave’s exposure to tBTC from increasing during the disruption. According to Aave, the freeze was prepared by its risk process and then executed by the guardian multisig at 10:01 UTC.

Why Aave moved

tBTC is listed on Aave V3 across Ethereum Core, Base, and Arbitrum. Aave said the Base and Arbitrum reserves had already been frozen in earlier asset deprecation rounds, leaving Ethereum Core as the only market where tBTC could still be used to support new borrowing.

With Threshold’s mint and redeem functions paused, Aave said it recommended a pre-emptive freeze on Ethereum Core so that new tBTC-related risk would not build up before the underlying issue is confirmed as fully mitigated.

What the freeze changes

The freeze blocks new tBTC deposits on Aave V3 Ethereum Core and prevents tBTC from contributing new borrowing power to user positions. In practical terms, it stops users from expanding exposure through fresh tBTC supply while the restriction is active.

Aave said the reserve itself has not been paused. Users are still able to repay debt and withdraw funds, liquidations continue as normal, and borrowing against other collateral is unchanged.

The protocol also said tBTC keeps its existing liquidation threshold. That means the freeze does not alter the health factors of current positions and does not by itself make any account newly eligible for liquidation. During the freeze, users who want to improve position safety can still do so by repaying debt or adding other collateral.

Scope limited to one market

Aave said the measure applies only to tBTC on Ethereum Core. No other reserve is affected, and no Aave market has been fully paused.

That distinction matters because the change is targeted at containing exposure growth rather than shutting down all activity around the asset. Existing users retain the ability to manage positions even as new tBTC supply into the reserve is blocked.

What comes next

Aave said it will keep monitoring Threshold’s public updates, tBTC positions on the lending protocol, and secondary-market liquidity for the asset. The freeze is expected to remain in place until Aave has assurance that tBTC operations have returned to normal.

Once that happens, Aave said it plans to propose restorative measures and publish a further update through the same governance discussion. For now, the confirmed next step is continued monitoring while Threshold’s mint and redeem pause remains active.

Source: governance.aave.com