Kraken’s parent company, Payward, and its asset management clients bought AAVE on the market to expand their DeFi investments, while the company said it could make additional purchases in the future.
According to CoinDesk, the purchases were made through Payward-linked fund Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP and the company’s asset management clients. The amount of AAVE purchased and the total investment amount were not disclosed.
Payward acquired the tokens on the secondary market, not directly from Aave. The company is also exploring opportunities for future collaboration with Aave.
A different purchase from the June proposal
A proposal reported in June concerning discussions between the two parties covered 250,000 AAVE and a 15% stake in Aave Group at a $385 million valuation. The latest announcement did not mention an equity purchase.
Therefore, the token amount in the earlier proposal was not presented as the size of the newly announced purchase. The concrete step in the announcement was Payward and its clients acquiring AAVE on the market.
On-chain lending is a target for the Kraken group
Payward aims to build an asset management business covering structured yield products and tokenized investments, in addition to digital assets. Gurpreet Oberoi, who leads the company’s asset management and institutional business, said the investment reflects its long-term approach to on-chain credit markets and clients’ demand for access to DeFi infrastructure.
Aave allows users to earn interest by depositing digital assets and to borrow against collateral. The announcement said the protocol had approximately $33 billion in net deposits and $11 billion in active loans. AAVE holders can vote on decisions related to the protocol and treasury.
Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov described working with Payward as a strategic step that would bring Aave to more retail and institutional users. Details about which products or services a potential collaboration would cover were not disclosed.
Not investment advice.