Aave is not for sale: Stani Kulechov debunks rumors of a 70% discount for Kraken
Aave founder Stani Kulechov firmly shut down speculation that the protocol was allegedly preparing for a massive sale of AAVE tokens at a 70% discount to the Kraken exchange. This information, which stirred the crypto community, turned out to be nothing more than a rumor.
The cause for concern was leaked materials mentioning the sale of approximately 15% of the company at a total valuation of $385 million. However, neither party — neither Kraken nor Aave — confirmed these terms. Nevertheless, amid the news, the AAVE price surged nearly 7%, settling around $87. The market reaction was swift but, as it turned out, premature.
Kulechov: "There will be no sale"
Kulechov called the presentation of the information incorrect. He only confirmed the fact of negotiations between the entities regarding the buyback of some tokens belonging to the Aave Labs division. This concerns the continuation of an existing partnership. As a reminder, in 2025, the Aave DAO community overwhelmingly approved, with 99.8% of votes, the transfer of a license to Kraken for the Ink blockchain network. This network is now developing its own lending platform based on Aave's code and shares a portion of its operational revenue with the protocol.
The dialogue between Kraken and Aave resumed after the April incident with KelpDAO, when hackers took out large loans backed by unbacked coins, creating problematic debt totaling up to $230 million. Although Aave's protective smart contracts withstood the external pressure, the liquidation of the consequences led to an outflow of client funds. The total volume of deposits decreased by more than a third, yet today the protocol still holds approximately $12 billion. This indicates high resilience and trust in the platform.
New Aave economics: buybacks and revenues
Kulechov made it clear: "We will never sell AAVE at a 70% discount." He also reminded that Aave Labs acts solely as a service provider for the DAO and does not receive a share of the protocol's revenues. All profits from Aave and the GHO stablecoin are distributed among AAVE token holders under the Aave Will Win concept.
Moreover, Aavenomics 3.0 has been announced — a new version that will make the buyback of AAVE tokens fully automatic. Currently, a program is in place allowing the buyback of up to $50 million in tokens per year at the discretion of the DAO. Following this announcement, the cryptocurrency began to appreciate.
What's next for Aave and Kraken?
Buying a stake in the project fits well into Kraken's strategy, which is actively acquiring assets ahead of its anticipated exchange listing. This year, the exchange has already agreed to acquire the derivatives platform Bitnomial for $550 million.
In the coming weeks, Aave will hold a quarterly call with the community, where details of the negotiations with Kraken and how the automation of buybacks will change the fate of AAVE are likely to be clarified.
Expert opinion: The market reacts too sharply to rumors, forgetting to analyze fundamental indicators. Aave remains one of the most resilient DeFi protocols with a strong economic model. The automation of buybacks is a powerful signal for long-term holders, which could offset short-term volatility.