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Aera V3 Review 2026: Onchain Treasury Vaults for DAOs

Aera V3 is an onchain treasury management protocol from the Gauntlet team, holding about $176 million in TVL across five chains. It suits DAOs and treasuries seeking automated strategies, but fees and V3 audit status are not clear from public sources.

By the DappsAtlas editorial team · Updated Nov 4, 2026

DappsAtlas score

7.2/10

Good

Visit Aera V3

Our verdict on Aera V3

7.2/10

Aera V3 is best suited to DAOs and onchain treasuries that want automated, risk-aware strategies without giving up custody. Its strengths are the Gauntlet pedigree, owner-controlled allowlists and a public dashboard. The main caveats are the closed-beta access, unpublished fees, and unclear V3 audit coverage, so verify the documentation before depositing.

Score breakdown

How Aera V3 scores

Security: 7.0/10
Ease of use: 6.5/10
Fees: n/a
Features: 7.5/10

Scores run from 0 to 10 and are based only on facts we could verify. Where information was missing we mark the score n/a rather than guess.

What is Aera V3?

Aera V3 is an autonomous onchain treasury management protocol for DAOs, built by the team at Gauntlet. DefiLlama categorizes it as an Onchain Capital Allocator and lists about $176 million in TVL across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism and Morph.

The homepage pitches vault infrastructure where owners set a treasury objective, such as maximizing yield, automating operations or growing liquidity. Guardians then execute strategies onchain. The site mentions strategies for stablecoin yield, ETH yield, protocol-owned liquidity, trade execution, grants distribution and incentive optimization.

Aera V3 has been tracked on DefiLlama since July 2025 and has no token. The homepage notes the app is in closed beta, so access may be restricted.

How Aera V3 works

Aera uses vaults. A treasury owner deposits assets into a vault and sets a objective, such as stablecoin yield or reduced volatility. The owner also sets allowlists of assets and protocols the vault can use.

Guardians then handle onchain execution within those limits, such as rebalancing across lending protocols. All transactions are onchain and visible on a public dashboard. Only the vault owner can deposit or withdraw.

The homepage roadmap describes a path from a two-asset vault in 2023, to multiple guardians in 2024, to a decentralized network of guardians competing to propose the best strategy in 2025. The project does not say how far that last stage has progressed.

7 features

Key features

Automated vault execution

Guardians handle onchain execution once funds are allocated to a vault, so the owner does not manage trades day to day.

Owner-set allowlists

Vault owners set allowlists of assets and protocols, limiting what the vault can interact with.

Stablecoin yield strategy

Stablecoins are spread across several lending protocols and rebalanced to seek yield while limiting risk.

Volatility targeting

Rebalances assets in response to market conditions to reduce treasury volatility.

Protocol-owned liquidity

Uses protocol-owned assets to bootstrap liquidity, aiming to cut slippage and generate fees.

Grants distribution

Supports grants in native tokens or stablecoins with best price execution and minimal price impact.

Public vault dashboard

Transactions occur onchain and can be audited on a public vault dashboard.

Pros and cons

What we like

Built by Gauntlet, a team known for DeFi risk and economic research.
Non-custodial design: only the vault owner can deposit or withdraw.
Owners can restrict vaults to allowlisted assets and protocols.
Transactions are onchain and viewable on a public dashboard.
Covers several treasury use cases, from stablecoin yield to grants distribution.
Substantial TVL of about $176 million across five chains.

Watch out for

The homepage says the app is in closed beta, so access may be limited.
DefiLlama lists no audits for Aera V3, and the homepage audit claims refer to earlier versions (V1 and V2 audit links).
TVL fell 10.4% over seven days, a reminder that deposits can move quickly.
Strategies such as leveraged ETH yield add smart-contract and liquidation-style risks from the lending protocols involved.
Fees are not published on its homepage, so cost to depositors is unclear.
The vision of fully decentralized guardian networks by 2025 is a roadmap goal; the project does not confirm whether it has been delivered.

Aera V3 fees

Fees are not published. Its homepage does not list management or performance fees. Prospective users should check the documentation and the vault terms in the app before depositing.

Users also pay normal network gas costs on the chain they use, and any strategy execution costs are likely to be reflected in vault performance. The project does not give specifics.

Is Aera V3 safe?

The homepage says Aera is non-custodial, built by Gauntlet, audited by Spearbit and OpenZeppelin, and backed by ongoing bug bounties. The site links to V1 and V2 audits, while DefiLlama lists no audits for V3, so readers should verify the audit scope for the current contracts.

Risks include smart-contract bugs, risks in the lending protocols a vault uses, and reliance on guardians to execute strategies within the owner's rules. Leveraged strategies such as ETH yield raise risk further. The project does not mention any incidents. This is not financial advice.

6 steps

How to get started with Aera V3

1
Read the documentation and strategy pages to decide which strategy fits your treasury objective.
2
Check the audit reports and confirm which apply to the V3 contracts.
3
Confirm access: the homepage says the app is in closed beta, so you may need to request access.
4
Choose a supported chain: Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism or Morph.
5
Set up a vault with allowlists of assets and protocols, then deposit funds.
6
Monitor performance on the public vault dashboard.

Open Aera V3

Who Aera V3 is for

Aera V3 is for DAOs, protocol teams and treasury managers who want to put idle assets to work through defined strategies. It is less suited to casual users, given the closed beta and treasury-focused design.

Aera V3 FAQs

What is Aera V3?

Aera is an autonomous onchain treasury management protocol for DAOs, built by the team at Gauntlet. Owners deposit into vaults, and guardians execute strategies within rules the owner sets.

Is Aera non-custodial?

The homepage says Aera is non-custodial: only the vault owner can deposit or withdraw. Vault owners set allowlists of assets and protocols the vault may use. Smart-contract risk still applies.

Which chains does Aera V3 support?

DefiLlama shows Aera V3 on Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism and Morph. It has been listed since July 2025.

Does Aera have a token?

No. DefiLlama lists token=none for Aera V3, and its homepage does not mention a token.

Has Aera been audited?

The homepage says audits were done by Spearbit and OpenZeppelin, with links for V1 and V2 audits. DefiLlama lists zero audits for V3, so check the documentation for V3 audit reports.

What strategies does Aera offer?

The homepage lists volatility targeting, a stablecoin strategy, ETH yield, protocol-owned liquidity, grants distribution and incentive optimization.

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