Key Takeaways
- • Payward-affiliated Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP and its clients acquired an undisclosed quantity of AAVE tokens through secondary-market purchases, Payward announced Thursday.
- • No financial terms were disclosed, and Payward left open the possibility of additional AAVE purchases.
- • Payward framed the investment as reflecting long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, plus client demand for infrastructure exposure, per Gurpreet Oberoi, VP of Payward Asset Management and Institutional.
- • The purchase follows Aave founder Stani Kulechov's pushback against a June CoinDesk report that Payward was negotiating a 15% stake at a $385 million valuation, though Kulechov acknowledged investors have discussed buying chunks of Aave Labs' AAVE allocation through partnership deals.
- • Kulechov described the relationship as a strategic step toward bringing Aave to retail and institutional users.
Summary
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced Thursday that Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a fund affiliated with Payward, and its clients have acquired an undisclosed amount of AAVE tokens on the secondary market, according to The Block. The announcement did not disclose any financial terms, and the post indicated that further AAVE purchases were possible.
In a separate announcement issued by Aave, Gurpreet Oberoi, vice president of Payward Asset Management and Institutional, said the investment "reflects our long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, as well as growing demand from our clients for exposure to the infrastructure shaping the future of finance."
The transaction follows public friction between the parties. Aave founder Stani Kulechov pushed back against a June CoinDesk report that Payward was in talks with Aave to purchase a 15% stake at a $385 million valuation, which he said at the time was roughly a 70% discount to actual value. Kulechov did, however, acknowledge that investors had discussed potentially buying chunks of Aave Labs' AAVE allocation through partnership deals.
AAVE tokens confer governance rights over the Aave protocol and its treasury. Under the "Aave Will Win" framework approved in April, revenue from Aave-branded products is routed into the DAO treasury. Kulechov characterized the Payward relationship as "a strategic step toward bringing Aave to the next wave of retail and institutional users."
In a separate announcement issued by Aave, Gurpreet Oberoi, vice president of Payward Asset Management and Institutional, said the investment "reflects our long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, as well as growing demand from our clients for exposure to the infrastructure shaping the future of finance."
The transaction follows public friction between the parties. Aave founder Stani Kulechov pushed back against a June CoinDesk report that Payward was in talks with Aave to purchase a 15% stake at a $385 million valuation, which he said at the time was roughly a 70% discount to actual value. Kulechov did, however, acknowledge that investors had discussed potentially buying chunks of Aave Labs' AAVE allocation through partnership deals.
AAVE tokens confer governance rights over the Aave protocol and its treasury. Under the "Aave Will Win" framework approved in April, revenue from Aave-branded products is routed into the DAO treasury. Kulechov characterized the Payward relationship as "a strategic step toward bringing Aave to the next wave of retail and institutional users."
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