Key Highlights
- Payward, Kraken’s parent entity, is negotiating to acquire a 15% ownership position in Aave, the leading DeFi lending platform, for approximately $71 million
- The transaction would involve transferring 35,000 ETH for 250,000 AAVE tokens plus equity shares
- At $385 million, the offer represents approximately a 70% markdown from Aave’s complete diluted token valuation
- Stani Kulechov, Aave’s creator, publicly rejected the proposition, stating the protocol won’t accept such steep discounts
- The lending protocol is in recovery mode following April’s KelpDAO security breach that sparked withdrawals exceeding $8 billion
Leading cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is pursuing negotiations to secure a 15% ownership stake in Aave, Ethereum’s dominant decentralized lending platform. The transaction assigns a total valuation of $385 million to the DeFi protocol.
Under the terms being discussed, Payward would transfer 35,000 ether tokens in return for receiving 250,000 AAVE tokens alongside a 15% common equity position in Aave Group.
The complete package carries an estimated value of approximately $71 million. According to reports, Kraken is simultaneously exploring partnerships with additional investors to co-finance the acquisition.
Strategic Implications for Payward’s Asset Management Division
This potential transaction represents the opening move in a broader strategy to establish Payward Asset Management as a significant player. Industry insiders indicate the company aims to increase its involvement in decentralized finance initiatives and diversified investment portfolios.
Kraken has been aggressively expanding its operations in anticipation of a potential initial public offering. Earlier this year in April, Payward finalized an agreement to acquire Bitnomial, a cryptocurrency derivatives platform, for as much as $550 million, securing comprehensive US CFTC regulatory approvals.
Additional reports from May suggested Payward was conducting fundraising efforts targeting a $20 billion company valuation.
Protocol Founder Dismisses Discounted Offer
Stani Kulechov, who founded Aave, took to X to address the speculation, emphatically stating there is “NO WAY” the protocol would accept a sale at such a significant discount.
The suggested $385 million price tag falls substantially short of the AAVE token’s fully diluted market capitalization. Kulechov highlighted that Aave currently produces $134 million in annualized revenue, with all proceeds flowing directly to the Aave DAO.
While not completely dismissing potential transactions, he clarified that Aave Labs, the commercial entity supporting the protocol, might consider selling portions of its AAVE token holdings. “Aave Labs owns an allocation of AAVE that multiple market participants have discussed purchasing,” Kulechov explained.
The founder also criticized the initial media coverage as presenting an inaccurate characterization of the situation.
Navigating Through 2026’s Turbulence
These investment discussions emerge while Aave continues its recovery efforts following a significant DeFi security incident earlier this year. During April, cybercriminals associated with North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group compromised KelpDAO’s cross-chain infrastructure, creating approximately $292 million in fraudulent tokens.
The attackers leveraged these worthless tokens as collateral within Aave’s platform to extract legitimate digital assets. After the collateral collapsed in value, Aave faced estimated losses ranging from $190 million to $230 million in uncollectible debt.
While Aave’s core smart contract infrastructure remained secure and uncompromised, the incident’s consequences nevertheless sparked massive capital flight, with users withdrawing over $8 billion from the lending protocol.
Since the crisis, Aave has implemented a comprehensive risk management overhaul and deployed the fourth iteration of its protocol. Kulechov also successfully advanced his “Aave Will Win” governance initiative in April 2026, restructuring revenue distribution to benefit the Aave DAO and token stakeholders directly.
He recently disclosed that Aave Labs is developing “Aavenomics 3.0,” featuring an innovative automated token buyback system for AAVE.
Both Kraken and Aave have declined to officially verify whether active deal negotiations are underway.
