Spark Review
Publishes the close factor that most protocols hide
of 10
Spark publishes the health-factor threshold at which a liquidator may take the whole position rather than half — at or below 0.95, the close factor rises from 50% to 100%. Its core is inherited Aave code under a lapsed BUSL; its own PSM and controller are AGPL-3.0.
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Close factor
50% normally; 100% at health factor 0.95 or below
Core licence
BUSL-1.1 naming Aave; change date 27 Jan 2023, passed
PSM and ALM Controller
AGPL-3.0
Governance
Sky Governance process; delay not stated
Auditors
ChainSecurity, Cantina, Certora
Scores
Each criterion carries equal weight. The overall score is the average of these 5 scores — (3.0 + 6.0 + 8.0 + 6.0 + 8.0) ÷ 5 = 6.2.
Pros
- Close factor published precisely: 50% normally, rising to 100% at a health factor of 0.95 or below
- Spark PSM and ALM Controller released under AGPL-3.0, a strong copyleft open-source licence
- Audits named and dated: ChainSecurity, Cantina and Certora
- Parameters updated through the Sky Governance process
Cons
- SparkLend core carries a Business Source License naming Aave as licensor, inherited from the fork
- That licence's change date of 27 January 2023 has long passed, leaving its current status unclear on the face of the file
- No reserve factor or protocol fee figures are published
- No timelock duration is stated for Sky Governance
The 0.95 threshold is worth knowing
Spark documents that a maximum of 50% of a debt can be liquidated per call while the health factor is above 0.95, and that at or below 0.95 the entire position becomes liquidatable in a single call. Most protocols describe a close factor without publishing the point at which it doubles. For a borrower watching a position deteriorate, that number is the one that matters.
A licence inherited and expired
SparkLend core is forked Aave code and carries Aave's own Business Source License, naming Aave as licensor and Aave V3 Core as the licensed work, with a change date of 27 January 2023. That date passed years ago while the file text remained. Spark's own contributions — the PSM and ALM Controller — are AGPL-3.0, which is unambiguous.
What is not published
No reserve factor or protocol fee figures appear in the documentation, and no timelock duration is stated for the Sky Governance process.
How it compares
Fluid
Four audit firms, almost nothing else published
Compound
Timelock-controlled, with a lapsed licence date
Radiant Capital
72-hour timelock, no licence at all
Silo Finance
Liquidation fee fixed at deployment, forever
Aave
49 audit reports and a stated governance delay
Euler
Governance limits enforced permanently in code
Kamino
Publishes what it charges, per market
Venus Protocol
The most precisely documented governance delays
Morpho
GPL-licensed with published liquidation curve
Sources
Scored from published primary sources rather than hands-on use. Every figure above comes from one of the pages below, on the date shown. Manufacturers change prices and specifications without notice — if something here no longer matches the source, tell us and we will correct it.
- 1.Spark — SparkLend liquidations — checked
- 2.SparkLend v1 core — LICENSE — checked
- 3.Spark PSM — LICENSE (AGPL-3.0) — checked
- 4.Spark — security and audits — checked
Frequently asked questions
When can Spark liquidate my whole position?
Spark states that at a health factor of 0.95 or below, up to 100% of the debt can be liquidated in a single call; above that, a maximum of 50%.
Is Spark open source?
Partly. The Spark PSM and ALM Controller are AGPL-3.0. SparkLend core carries an inherited Aave Business Source License whose change date has passed.
Nothing here is financial advice. Editorial policy · How we score · How we're funded.