Stani Kulechov dismisses claims of a cut-price sale to AAVE from Kraken

Aave founder Stani Kulechov denied reports suggesting that Aave will sell AAVE tokens to Kraken at a discount of nearly 70%, while confirming that discussions regarding long-term strategic partnerships have taken place.

Earlier, the report states that Kraken is in advanced talks to invest 35,000 ETH in exchange for 250,000 AAVE tokens and 15% of Aave Group shares. The reported transaction was valued at approximately $71 million and valued the Aave Group at approximately $385 million.

In response to the report, Kulechov said that its structure did not explain the negotiations well. He said there is “no way” Aave will sell AAVE tokens at a 70% discount. While he disputed that interpretation, he did not deny that discussions with strategic partners had taken place.

Instead, Kulechov explained that Aave Labs has a share of AAVE tokens that several market participants have expressed interest in purchasing as part of a deep, long-term partnership. His comments highlighted the difference between Aave Labs, which develops the protocol, and Aave DAO, which controls the ecosystem and manages the protocol’s economy.

Protocol revenue continues to flow to The DAO

Expanding on that premise, Kulechov said that every dollar of revenue generated by the Aave Protocol and the GHO stablecoin accrues to AAVE through the Aave DAO. He added that the same plan now includes revenue from Aave App, Aave Pro, and related exchange products after the approval of Aave Will Win’s governance proposal.

Under that framework, Aave Labs does not retain protocol or product revenue. Instead, the development company receives funding approved by the DAO to continue developing the protocol.

Kulechov said Aave currently makes about $134 million a year, with that money flowing to the DAO rather than the development company. He also said that the Aave brand, protocol software, and other intellectual property created for the ecosystem now belong to AAVE under the revised governance model.

Separately, Kulechov revealed that the team is designing Aavenomics 3.0, which he said will introduce an automated, non-selective recovery method for AAVE. He did not disclose the implementation timeline, funding source, or expected size of the program.

Aave already operates a reimbursement program funded by the protocol’s excess revenue. Based on Kulechov’s comments, the proposed method will automate purchases rather than relying on management decisions for each purchase.

Tokenized assets remain central to Aave’s valuation case

Looking beyond governance, Kulechov said Aave is expanding its focus beyond crypto lending to include real-world asset tokens and other financial products.

That strategy is consistent with a recent assessment from crypto.news, which reported last week that Grayscale Research considers AAVE to be undervalued at current prices using a cash flow model commonly used by traditional financial firms.

Grayscale estimates that Aave could generate as much as $60 million in revenue by 2026 and puts the fair value of the token between $80 and $100 based on fintech earnings of 20x to 25x.

According to Grayscale Research, a fair value of around $175 is possible within a year if regulatory clarification accelerates the use of tokenized assets such as Treasury products, private debt, and money market funds as collateral for DeFi lending.

The study noted that the rate is based on a model instead of a guaranteed price target and relies on tokenized assets that bring additional deposits, lending activity, and payment generation to the protocol.

After Kulechov’s comments, AAVE rose to $87.50 a day before reaching around $82, while the token continues to receive support from Standard Chartered at the previously published price target of $3,500 by the end of 2030.