Read this article on bsc.news Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and its asset management clients have bought an undisclosed amount of Aave's $AAVE governance token, exten
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and its asset management clients have bought an undisclosed amount of Aave's $AAVE governance token, extending the company's push into decentralized finance (DeFi). CoinDesk reported that the tokens were bought on the secondary market and that Payward said it may make further purchases.
The purchase was made through Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, and its asset management clients, according to the announcement cited by CoinDesk. No dollar figure or token count was disclosed, so the size of the position is unclear.
Payward and Aave are also exploring ways to work together, though the statement gave no details. A person familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that buying on the market rather than directly from Aave was a "signal of alignment" between the two companies.
Gurpreet Oberoi, vice president of Payward asset management and institutional, said in the statement that the investment reflects the company's long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, as well as client demand for exposure to that infrastructure. Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov said working with Payward is a step toward bringing Aave to more retail and institutional users.
The deal differs from an earlier proposal. CoinDesk first reported talks in June involving 250,000 AAVE tokens and a 15% common equity stake in Aave Group at a $385 million valuation. Thursday's announcement makes no mention of equity, so Payward is gaining exposure to the token rather than to the company that develops the protocol, as Crypto Briefing noted.
At the time, Kulechov publicly rejected the idea that Aave tokens would be sold at a steep discount, while acknowledging that Aave Labs holds an allocation that several market participants had discussed buying, as Cryptopolitan reported.
Aave lets users deposit digital assets to earn interest and borrow against collateral through smart contracts. According to the statement, the network has about $33 billion in net deposits and $11 billion in active loans. AAVE holders can vote on decisions affecting the protocol and its treasury.
The investment advances Payward's effort to build an asset management business spanning digital assets, structured yield and tokenized investments, CoinDesk reported.
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