Aave founder Stani Kulechov has rejected studies suggesting Aave would promote AAVE tokens to Kraken at a roughly 70% low cost, whereas confirming that discussions round long-term strategic partnerships have taken place.
Abstract
- Stani Kulechov rejected claims that Aave would promote AAVE tokens to Kraken at a roughly 70% low cost.
- Kulechov stated all Aave Protocol income flows to the Aave DAO and revealed plans for an automatic AAVE buyback mechanism.
- Grayscale maintained AAVE seems undervalued, with a model-based honest worth of as much as $175 if tokenized property broaden in DeFi.
Earlier, a report claimed that Kraken is in superior talks to take a position 35,000 ETH in change for 250,000 AAVE tokens and a 15% fairness stake in Aave Group. The reported transaction was valued at roughly $71 million and implied an Aave Group valuation of about $385 million.
Responding to the report, Kulechov argued that its framing didn’t precisely describe the discussions. He stated there was “no approach” Aave would promote AAVE tokens at a 70% low cost. Whereas disputing that characterization, he didn’t deny that negotiations with strategic companions have occurred.
As an alternative, Kulechov defined that Aave Labs holds an allocation of AAVE tokens that a number of market contributors have expressed curiosity in buying as a part of deeper, long-term partnerships. His feedback drew a distinction between Aave Labs, which develops the protocol, and the Aave DAO, which governs the ecosystem and controls protocol economics.
Protocol income continues flowing to the DAO
Increasing on that construction, Kulechov stated each greenback of income generated by the Aave Protocol and the GHO stablecoin accrues to AAVE by means of the Aave DAO. He added that the identical association now covers income from Aave App, Aave Professional, and swap-related merchandise following the approval of the Aave Will Win governance proposal.
Beneath that framework, Aave Labs doesn’t maintain protocol or product income. As an alternative, the event firm receives funding authorised by the DAO to proceed constructing the protocol.
Kulechov stated Aave is presently producing roughly $134 million in annualized income, with these proceeds flowing to the DAO quite than the event firm. He additionally said that the Aave model, protocol software program, and different mental property created for the ecosystem now belong to AAVE beneath the up to date governance mannequin.
Individually, Kulechov revealed that the crew is designing Aavenomics 3.0, which he stated will introduce an automatic, non-discretionary AAVE buyback mechanism. He didn’t disclose the launch timeline, funding supply, or anticipated dimension of this system.
Aave already operates a buyback system funded by extra protocol income. Based mostly on Kulechov’s feedback, the proposed mechanism would automate purchases quite than counting on governance selections for every buyback.
Tokenized property stay central to Aave’s valuation case
Wanting past governance, Kulechov stated Aave is increasing its focus past crypto lending to incorporate tokenized real-world property and different monetary merchandise.
That technique aligns with a latest evaluation from crypto.information, which reported final week that Grayscale Analysis considers AAVE undervalued at present costs utilizing a cash-flow mannequin generally utilized to conventional monetary firms.
Grayscale estimated Aave might generate roughly $60 million in income throughout 2026 and positioned the token’s present honest worth between $80 and $100 based mostly on a 20x to 25x fintech earnings a number of.
Based on Grayscale Analysis, a good worth of about $175 might turn into doable inside a yr if regulatory readability accelerates the usage of tokenized property reminiscent of Treasury merchandise, non-public credit score, and cash market funds as collateral in DeFi lending.
The analysis famous that the estimate is model-based quite than a assured worth goal and depends upon tokenized property bringing extra deposits, borrowing exercise, and price technology to the protocol.
Following Kulechov’s feedback, AAVE climbed to an intraday excessive of $87.50 earlier than easing to round $82, whereas the token continued to obtain help from Commonplace Chartered’s beforehand revealed $3,500 worth goal for the tip of 2030.


