Is Aries Markets Safe?
Risk Grade: B- (34/100)
Aries Markets is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.
Moderate risk — standard lending design on Aptos with clean track record, but aggressive LTV parameters and flagged oracle issues warrant caution
A lending protocol on Aptos where you deposit crypto to earn interest or borrow against your holdings. It holds $12M in deposits with standard lending mechanisms. Its B- grade reflects clean operation and standard design, offset by aggressive 90% LTV in e-mode and an oracle vulnerability flagged by security auditors.
TVL
$10M
Mechanisms
6
Interactions
5
Value Grade
C+
Key Risks for Aries Markets Users
The efficiency mode allows borrowing up to 90% of your collateral value. A 10% price drop can trigger liquidation, leaving very little safety margin.
Security auditors flagged a critical oracle pricing issue. Price manipulation on low-liquidity Aptos tokens could lead to incorrect liquidations.
All deposits are concentrated in Aptos assets. If APT crashes, every market gets hit at the same time.
Top Risk Factors
- •E-Mode allows up to 90% LTV, leaving extremely thin liquidation margins that can be breached in rapid price declines of correlated Aptos assets.
- •OtterSec audit flagged critical oracle pricing vulnerability; oracle manipulation on low-liquidity Aptos assets remains a systemic risk.
- •Concentration of deposits in Aptos-native assets creates correlated liquidation risk during APT downturns.
How Aries Markets Compares to Peers
Aries Markets ranks #35 of 90 Lending protocols (above-median). At a risk score of 34/100, it's 3 points safer than the sector average of 37/100.
Adjacent peers: BEND (B-, 33/100) is ranked just safer, and Dolomite (B-, 34/100) is ranked just riskier.
See the full Lending sector leaderboard or the Aries Markets vs Dolomite comparison.
Common Questions about Aries Markets
Plain-English answers based on Aries Markets's scores across Hindenrank's 8 risk dimensions. The highest-scoring (riskiest) dimension is Vitality Risk (8/10).
Has Aries Markets ever been hacked or exploited?
Aries Markets has a fairly clean operational history. The track record dimension scored 3/15, indicating minor or no significant incidents on record. A clean track record is a positive signal but it does not guarantee future safety, especially as protocol complexity grows.
How much money is at stake in Aries Markets?
Aries Markets currently holds roughly $10M in user deposits. Smaller TVL means individual depositors carry a larger share of any loss event, and it can be harder to exit a position quickly during stress.
What's the worst-case scenario for Aries Markets?
Hindenrank has identified specific collapse scenarios for Aries Markets. The most prominent: "E-Mode Liquidation Cascade on Aptos". The trigger condition is APT price drops 15%+ in 4 hours while e-mode positions at 90% LTV exceed $50M across correlated Aptos assets. Reading through the full scenario list on the protocol page is the single best way to understand the actual failure modes — generic "smart contract risk" is rarely the thing that takes a protocol down.
Is Aries Markets regulated or insured?
Aries Markets has low regulatory exposure on Hindenrank's framework (3/10). The protocol is structured in a way that minimizes counterparty and jurisdiction concentration, though regulatory risk in crypto can change rapidly. No DeFi protocol carries FDIC-style insurance — even with low regulatory risk, depositors are not protected in the way bank customers are.
What are the biggest red flags for Aries Markets?
Hindenrank's retail-focused risk audit flagged: The efficiency mode allows borrowing up to 90% of your collateral value. A 10% price drop can trigger liquidation, leaving very little safety margin. Security auditors flagged a critical oracle pricing issue. Price manipulation on low-liquidity Aptos tokens could lead to incorrect liquidations. All deposits are concentrated in Aptos assets. If APT crashes, every market gets hit at the same time.
Should beginners deposit into Aries Markets?
Aries Markets is rated B-, which is acceptable for users who understand the protocol's mechanism. Beginners should read the full risk breakdown and only deposit after they can articulate the top three failure modes. If you cannot explain how the protocol works, do not deposit.
How does Aries Markets compare to safer Lending alternatives?
Aries Markets is one protocol in Hindenrank's Lending coverage. The safest Lending protocols on the leaderboard tend to share three traits: a long incident-free track record, conservative mechanism design, and high-quality public documentation. Compare Aries Markets against the full Lending ranking before committing capital.
For the full 8-dimension score breakdown, the radar chart, and dependency graph, see the Aries Markets risk report.
Read the Full Aries Markets Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 2 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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