TLDR
- Stani Kulechov denied claims of a discounted AAVE token sale to Kraken.
- Reports said Kraken was discussing a possible stake linked to Aave.
- Kulechov said Aave Labs holds AAVE tokens sought by outside parties.
- Aave is designing Aavenomics 3.0 for automated AAVE buybacks.
- Kulechov said Aave generates about $134M in annualized revenue.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov has rejected claims that Aave would sell AAVE tokens to Kraken at a steep discount, while confirming that outside parties have shown interest in buying an AAVE allocation held by Aave Labs.
The response followed reports that Kraken was in talks to acquire a stake connected to Aave, including a possible transaction involving AAVE tokens and equity exposure. The reported figures included a roughly 15% stake at a $385 million valuation, although neither Kraken nor Aave has confirmed those terms.
Kulechov disputed the claim that AAVE would be sold at about a 70% discount, saying there was no basis for such a sale. He said the discussions were related to long-term strategic partnerships rather than a discounted token disposal by the protocol.
Kulechov Rejects Discounted AAVE Sale Claim
The report said Kraken was in advanced talks to invest 35,000 ETH in exchange for 250,000 AAVE tokens and a 15% equity stake in Aave Group. The transaction was described as being worth about $71 million, based on the reported structure.
Kulechov said the framing of the report was inaccurate and stated that Aave would not sell AAVE tokens at a 70% discount. He did not deny that strategic discussions had taken place, but he clarified that several market participants had expressed interest in an AAVE allocation held by Aave Labs.
The distinction is important because Aave Labs serves as a development company and service provider for the Aave DAO, while the DAO governs the protocol and controls its economic structure. Kulechov said Aave Labs does not receive or keep protocol revenue.
Aave and Kraken already have an existing relationship. In 2025, the Aave DAO voted 99.8% in favor of licensing Aave’s code to Kraken’s Ink network, which operates a white-label lending market and shares revenue back to Aave.
Aave Revenue Routes to DAO and AAVE Holders
Kulechov said all revenue generated by the Aave Protocol and the GHO stablecoin accrues to AAVE through the Aave DAO. He added that the same structure now applies to revenue from Aave App, Aave Pro, and swap-related products under the Aave Will Win governance framework.
According to Kulechov, Aave is generating about $134 million in annualized revenue, with proceeds routed to the DAO rather than Aave Labs. The development company receives funding through DAO-approved arrangements to continue work on the protocol.
He also said Aave’s brand, protocol software, and intellectual property created for the ecosystem now belong to AAVE under the updated governance model. The arrangement separates protocol economics from the operating company that contributes development services.
Kulechov also confirmed that Aavenomics 3.0 is being designed to introduce an automated and non-discretionary AAVE buyback mechanism. He did not provide a launch date, funding amount, or detailed structure for the planned system.
Aave already has a buyback program that can use excess protocol revenue to purchase AAVE. The proposed Aavenomics 3.0 framework would make the process automatic rather than dependent on separate governance actions for each purchase.
AAVE Rises as Market Watches Kraken Talks
AAVE traded higher after Kulechov’s comments, rising to an intraday high of about $87.50 before easing toward $82. The token remained up over 24 hours as traders assessed the denial, the Kraken report, and the confirmed buyback planning.
The developments come as Aave continues to rebuild after the April KelpDAO exploit, which left up to $230 million in bad debt after attackers borrowed against unbacked tokens. Aave’s smart contracts were not breached, but the incident affected confidence and contributed to a decline in deposits.
Grayscale Research recently said AAVE appears undervalued under a cash-flow model, estimating a current fair value range of $80 to $100. The firm said a value near $175 could become possible within a year if tokenized assets such as Treasuries, private credit, and money market funds become more widely used as collateral in DeFi.
