Payward, the financial infrastructure platform behind Kraken, said on Thursday that an affiliated investment fund and its clients bought AAVE tokens on the secondary market. The company did not disclose the amount and said it may buy more.
What Payward announced
The purchase was made through Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, together with its clients, according to the company announcement.
- The tokens were bought on the secondary market
- Payward did not disclose the number of tokens acquired
- The company said it may make additional acquisitions in the future
Payward calls the investment a milestone for Payward Asset Management, one of the company's five key pillars. The unit connects investors with opportunities across digital assets, structured yield and tokenized financial instruments.
What Payward and Aave Labs said
Gurpreet Oberoi, Vice President of Payward Asset Management and Institutional, said the investment reflects long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, as well as growing client demand for exposure to that infrastructure.
Payward said its relationship with Aave enabled it to pursue a joint investment for clients seeking DeFi exposure. The company views DeFi as an integral part of the global financial system, with Aave in a leading role.
Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO at Aave Labs, said the investment shows growing confidence in AAVE and in the Aave Will Win framework, and that working with Payward is a strategic step toward bringing Aave to the next wave of retail and institutional users.
What it means for AAVE holders
Aave is an onchain lending network where users lend and borrow digital assets. The AAVE token gives holders governance rights over the network and its treasury.
- The Aave Will Win framework was approved earlier this year
- Aave Labs committed to directing revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO treasury
- That revenue comes on top of the network fees the treasury already receives
According to the announcement, the token-centric model aligns the growth of the Aave ecosystem with the interests of its tokenholder-governed community.
AAVE on the market
The announcement lands on a down day for AAVE, according to CoinGecko data.
Metric | Value |
|---|---|
AAVE price | $123.90 |
24h change | -7.4% |
7d change | -7.9% |
Market cap | $1.91B |
24h trading volume | $234.5M |
All-time high | $661.69 |
At the current price, AAVE sits 81% below its all-time high of $661.69.