Aave founder rejects report AAVE is for sale at 70% off

Aave founder Stani Kulechov disputed a report that Payward, the company behind the Kraken exchange, had submitted a purchase offer valuing the AAVE token at about a 70% discount to recent market levels. He rejected the characterization that the token could be acquired on those terms.

Kulechov posted online after the report, saying the token was not for sale at that discount and that a simple transfer of tokens would not resolve the situation. He emphasized that AAVE is governed by on-chain mechanisms and token holders, not by unilateral sales.

He pointed out that many protocol token holdings are held by decentralized governance bodies, multisignature wallets or community treasuries, which limit the ability of any single party to sell large allocations without following process. He said significant transfers would need to go through governance procedures and obtain community approval.

Payward has not publicly confirmed the reported bid. Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Market participants reacted to the reports with increased trading activity and price swings. Traders and observers sought clarity on which token holdings, if any, were included in the reported offer, whether those tokens are freely tradable and what governance rights would transfer with them.

Kulechov wrote, “AAVE is not for sale at a 70% discount,” and did not provide details about any counteroffers or private discussions with Payward.

Aave is a decentralized lending protocol that uses the AAVE token for governance and certain safety operations. Token holders can propose and vote on protocol changes, and features such as timelocks and on-chain votes can delay or block large transfers that would alter voting power.

Questions about ownership and stewardship in decentralized finance persist as market participants monitor how major token holdings are managed and how governance rules would apply to any proposed transfer or acquisition.