Aave Founder Rejects 70% Discount Sale Amid Payward Acquisition Rumors

Stani Kulechov denies selling AAVE at a 70% discount despite Payward's interest in a 15% stake. Aave generates $134M annual revenue for the DAO.

Woofun AI reports that Aave founder Stani Kulechov addressed rumors regarding Kraken's parent company Payward seeking a 15% stake in the protocol. Kulechov stated that AAVE will not be sold at a 70% discount, clarifying that previous reports were not entirely accurate. He acknowledged that Aave Labs holds an allocation of AAVE and that multiple market participants have discussed purchasing tokens or engaging in deeper collaboration centered around long-term partnerships. Kulechov noted that Aave, the largest decentralized lending protocol on Ethereum, generates approximately $134 million in annualized revenue flowing to the Aave DAO. He previously proposed a governance plan to redirect revenue from Aave Labs and its products to the DAO and token holders. These developments occur as Aave faces pressure following the April Kelp DAO incident, where stolen rsETH was converted via Aave, leading to a significant decline in total value locked.