HostAAVE vs INST — price, size and safety, side by side
AAVE (Ethereum) vs INST (Polygon) — every figure is the freshest dated measurement we hold for that token, never a live-feed guess. Prices stamped 2026-10-16 / 2026-10-15.
AAVE vs INST — normalized performance, 2026-10-06 to 2026-10-15T21:43:45
| AAVE | INST | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $161.52 | $2.30 |
| Market cap | $2.79B | $166.93M |
| 24h volume | $1.84M DEX | $155.67K DEX |
| Liquidity | $12.56M | $634.32K |
| FDV | $2.89B | $1.07M |
| Holders | — | 4,511 |
| Age (days) | 1,742 | 1,702 |
| Safety grade | B | B |
Where they differ
- AAVE measures ~17× the market cap of INST
- AAVE measures ~20× the liquidity of INST
- AAVE measures ~12× the 24h volume of INST
- over the shared window AAVE moved −16.2% while INST moved +15.3%
What the data says
AAVE
AAVE is the token of DeFi's biggest lending protocol — the asset that secures Aave's safety module and governs the money market that's been clearing loans continuously since ETHLend in 2017. The deployment 0x7fc66500c84a76ad7e9c93437bfc5ac33e2ddae9 is the canonical mint; our October 6, 2026 snapshot reads $12.6 million of tracked pool liquidity on this pair set — thin against a float that trades everywhere.
The honest shape: AAVE's thesis is unusually concrete for a governance token — stakers backstop protocol shortfalls with their own stake, so the token is literally collateral for the system's solvency, which ties its value to Aave's actual revenue and risk book rather than pure governance vibes. That makes it closer to a productive asset than most of this index — with the caveat that "productive" here still means "exposed to one protocol's loan book."
INST
There's a small gap on this page — INST's contract flags weren't fully confirmed as of 2026-10-09. So it's best treated as unconfirmed rather than assumed clean, and the scanner above reads it live in a couple of seconds before you trade.
Looking at the market data, INST shows $634.32K of on-chain liquidity, 4,511 wallets holding and 1,702 days old as of 2026-10-09. The number worth sitting with is that $634.32K of depth against a market cap of about $166.93M — a thin pool for a token this size, which means a position that feels small to you can still be large for the pool: INST reprices on relatively little flow, and a sizable exit will slip. The 4,511-wallet base is a reasonable spread of ownership, though a headline count doesn't show whether a few wallets dominate — the concentration read on this page speaks to that. The creator's own position is small — <0.01% of supply as of 2026-10-09, comfortably under the 5% line the scanners flag — which is what you want to see.
FAQ
Which is bigger, AAVE or INST?
By tracked market cap: AAVE (Ethereum) measures $2.79B and INST (Polygon) measures $166.93M — dated snapshots, not a live feed.
Which is safer, AAVE or INST?
On the contract checks we publish: AAVE (Ethereum) grades B and INST (Polygon) grades B. A grade is a structural check on the contract, not a promise about the asset.
How have AAVE and INST performed over the shared window?
Between 2026-10-06 and 2026-10-15T21:43:45, the measured snapshots show AAVE at −16.2% and INST at +15.3%.
The grade column is the one CMC's compare page cannot print — our grade is computed from the contract itself (mint/freeze authority, liquidity, holder concentration). Changes are measured over the shared window stated on the chart, 2026-10-06→2026-10-15T21:43:45; a token with fewer measured points measures a shorter span inside it.
Figures are dated on-chain snapshots, not a live feed. Safety grades are structural checks — not investment advice. Free · no signup · a HostDeFi product.