Aave Founder Stani Kulechov Denies Kraken Stake Sale Report, Confirms AAVE Buybacks

Aave founder Stani Kulechov denied claims that the protocol would sell AAVE tokens at a 70% discount, responding to a report that crypto exchange Kraken is in talks to buy a stake in the lender.

The report described a roughly 15% stake at a $385 million valuation, though neither company has confirmed those terms. AAVE traded near $82, up almost 5% over 24 hours, as the debate spread.

Why the Kraken Aave Stake Report Drew Pushback

The figures behind the report trace to anonymous sources, and Kulechov called the framing inaccurate. He confirmed only that outside parties had discussed buying an AAVE allocation held by Aave Labs.

Any deal would build on an existing tie. In 2025, the Aave DAO voted 99.8% to license its code to Kraken’s Ink network, which now runs a white-label lending market that shares revenue back to Aave.

The talks also surface as Aave rebuilds from April’s KelpDAO exploit, which left up to $230 million in bad debt after attackers borrowed against unbacked tokens.

Although Aave’s smart contracts were never breached, the fallout erased more than a third of its deposits, which sit near $12 billion today.

Kulechov Points to Revenue and Planned AAVE Buybacks

Kulechov rejected the idea that Aave would offload tokens cheaply.

“there is NO WAY we’d sell AAVE at a 70% discount lol,” he articulated.

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He said Aave Labs only serves the DAO as a service provider and takes none of the protocol’s revenue. That revenue instead routes to token holders under the Aave Will Win framework.

“100% of Aave Protocol and GHO revenue goes to the $AAVE token.”

He also teased Aavenomics 3.0, which would make AAVE buybacks automatic. That extends a discretionary program already cleared to buy up to $50 million of AAVE a year.

The token traded higher after the post.

What Comes Next for Aave and Kraken

A stake would fit Kraken’s acquisition run ahead of its planned public listing. The exchange agreed this year to buy derivatives venue Bitnomial for up to $550 million, securing rare US derivatives licenses.

Some analysts still see sharp upside for the token despite the April setback.

Aave plans a quarterly community call within weeks. Whether the Kraken talks firm up, and how automated buybacks reshape AAVE, should become clearer then.