# Introduction

Aave Arc is a "permissioned" version of the Aave Protocol, which brings DeFi to institutions, allowing them to experience the power of DeFi: transparency, decentralized governance, rapid innovation, automated smart contract-based execution, liquidity, and programmability.

Aave Arc is a separate and independent deployment of the Aave Protocol smart contracts, with an addition of a smart contract permission layer which allows whitelisters to manage all participants in the pools (after KYC checks).

![](https://2555746317-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1joCOdQXt19UBNUm3SCe%2Fuploads%2Fovb5z5BjYFthddrPtld5%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=9e9c62f7-13e8-4e6f-92b2-222cff6a8917)