Aavegotchi (GHST) combines gaming and cryptocurrency, where the digital world meets the financial realm. It is the governance token of the Aavegotchi NFT Gaming protocol, giving GHST token holders voting power in the AavegotchiDAO. This oversees all aspects of the protocol, including the Gotchiverse game and Aavegotchi NFTs. Aavegotchis are pixelated ghosts backed by the ERC-721 token standard, with dynamic metadata that changes through user interaction. The value and rarity of an Aavegotchi is determined by its collateral stake, traits, and wearables. The protocol is powered by the Aave protocol, a lending protocol in DeFi, and the name Aavegotchi is a nod to Aave, which translates to “ghost” in Finnish.

Each Aavegotchi NFT manages an escrow contract holding their "Spirit Force," also known as "collateral" or "aTokens," a balance of yield-generating tokens from the Aave Protocol. This balance increases over time due to the yield they generate. Aavegotchis have a minimum amount of Spirit Force that is initially defined by their base rarity score. Upon opening a Portal, ten Aavegotchis are generated with a combination of traits. Users may only choose to summon one of the ten Aavegotchis, while the remaining nine are burned and gone forever. An Aavegotchi’s traits are generated via Chainlink VRF, an on-chain random number generator, and combine to form the base rarity score.

Aavegotchi combines gaming and finance, providing a platform for users to engage in a variety of activities. Users can participate in the Gotchiverse game, where they use their Aavegotchi NFTs as web3 avatars to explore, build, battle, and socialize. The protocol also introduced Gotchi lending, allowing players to trustlessly lend their Aavegotchi NFTs to other players without any risk. The lending smart contract automatically splits any earned tokens per the agreed upon terms of the contract once the duration of the lending period expires. Aavegotchi's governance token became available as collateral on Aave.

Aavegotchi was created by Singapore-based Pixelcraft Studios, with Jesse Johnson and Coder Dan as co-founders. Aave’s founder, Stani Kulechov, was the project’s first advisor. In November 2020, Aave invested in Pixelcraft Studios. The project’s mainnet launch was initially scheduled for Jan. 4, 2021, but was pushed to March of 2021 due to high transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain. The Aavegotchi community decided to launch the project on Polygon, a side chain to Ethereum. On March 20, 2023, Pixelcraft Studios completed a multi-year long token sale, raising a total of $30 million. The sale of the $GHST token utilized a decentralized fundraising model, DAICO, proposed by Ethereum's founder Vitalik Buterin. It began on Sept. 14, 2020.