Aave’s Kulechov denies discount sale, details buyback plan

Aave's Stani Kulechov denied plans to sell AAVE tokens at a 70% discount, clarifying that all protocol revenue goes to tokenholders. Aavenomics 3.0 will introduce an automated buyback mechanism.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov has denied reports suggesting that AAVE tokens would be sold at a 70% discount, labeling such claims as inaccurate. He clarified that while there have been discussions about market participants potentially purchasing AAVE allocations held by Aave Labs, the reports have been misleading in their framing. Kulechov emphasized that all protocol and GHO stablecoin revenue flows directly to AAVE tokenholders, as outlined in the "Aave Will Win" proposal. He also noted that Aave Labs does not receive any protocol revenue. The team is currently developing Aavenomics 3.0, which will introduce an automated, non-discretionary buyback mechanism for AAVE tokens. Aave generates $134 million in annualized revenue, all of which is directed to the Aave DAO. Reports had claimed that Kraken's parent company, Payward, was negotiating to acquire a 15% stake in Aave at a $385 million valuation—well below AAVE's market capitalization—but Kulechov rejected any notion of a discounted sale. Aave aims to serve both crypto and traditional financial markets.