AAVE price jumps as founder rejects 70% discount token-sale claim

AAVE extended its weekly gains after Aave founder Stani Kulechov dismissed claims that the decentralized finance protocol planned to sell tokens at a steep discount while also confirming that a new automated buyback mechanism is under development.

The token traded at $83.88 at the time of writing, up nearly 16% over the past seven days.

The latest comments from Kulechov came after reports suggested that cryptocurrency exchange Kraken was in talks to acquire a large stake in Aave at a significant discount.

Those reports sparked debate within the crypto community over the potential impact on token holders and governance.

But Kulechov rejected the claims, saying there was "no way" Aave would sell AAVE at a 70% discount.

He explained that the discussions centered on an allocation of AAVE owned by Aave Labs, not tokens being sold by the protocol itself.

According to Kulechov, multiple market participants have explored long-term strategic partnerships involving that allocation, and the earlier reports did not accurately reflect those discussions.

Aave buybacks and protocol revenue take center stage

Alongside addressing the speculation, Kulechov provided fresh details on Aave's token economics.

He said that 100% of revenue generated by both the Aave Protocol and the GHO stablecoin is directed to the AAVE token under the "Aave Will Win" framework.

The same approach also applies to revenue generated by products such as Aave App, Aave Pro and Swaps.

Kulechov added that Aave Labs does not receive protocol or product revenue despite serving as one of the main development teams building the protocol on behalf of the Aave DAO.

One of the biggest announcements was the confirmation that the team is working on Aavenomics 3.0.

According to Kulechov, the upgrade will introduce an automated, non-discretionary buyback mechanism.

While no launch date or implementation details were disclosed, the announcement marked another step in the protocol's ongoing effort to strengthen value accrual for AAVE holders.

He also revealed that Aave is currently generating approximately $134 million in annualized revenue, with those proceeds flowing to the Aave DAO.

In addition, Kulechov said the protocol's intellectual property, including the Aave brand and software developed for the ecosystem, belongs to AAVE under the existing governance structure.

The founder also reiterated that Aave is expanding beyond crypto-native lending and is building products for the broader financial market, including real-world assets (RWAs).

The clarification helped ease concerns created by the earlier reports and coincided with renewed buying interest in the token.

Beyond the governance updates, Aave continues to rank among the largest decentralized finance protocols.

The platform currently secures more than $12.24 billion in total value locked, underlining its position as one of the sector's leading lending markets.

AAVE price forecast

AAVE's recent rally has improved its short-term technical outlook, although several resistance levels remain in focus.

Technical indicators currently present a mixed but improving picture.

Out of 23 tracked indicators, 11 point to a buy, eight indicate a sell, while four remain neutral.

The bullish bias is driven primarily by trend indicators, with moving averages producing nine buy signals against four sell signals.

AAVE is trading above its 10-day, 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), indicating improving short-term momentum.

However, the token remains below its 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages, showing that the longer-term trend has yet to fully reverse.

Oscillators remain more cautious, generating only two buy signals compared to four sell signals.

The daily Relative Strength Index (RSI), in particular, stands at 63.96, suggesting momentum remains positive without entering overbought territory.

On the weekly timeframe, however, the RSI is at 33.43, a level that reflects an oversold condition based on completed weekly candles.

Turning to the key price levels to watch, the immediate support level sits at $72.22. A break below that level could expose AAVE to additional downside pressure.

On the upside, traders will be watching $88.41, which represents the first major resistance. A daily close above that level could pave the way for a move toward the next resistance at $90.13.