Kraken’s Parent Makes a DeFi Dive With AAVE as the Lending Game Gets Bigger 🪂

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, acquired an undisclosed amount of $AAVE tokens on the secondary market alongside its asset management clients, expanding its exposure to decentralized finance. The purchases were made through Payward-affiliated investment fund Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP.

The Wyoming-based company said it may make additional purchases as it deepens its involvement in DeFi. Payward is also exploring potential areas of collaboration with Aave, although it did not disclose specific plans or provide further details about the discussions.

According to DeFiLlama, Aave holds approximately $17.06 billion in total value locked, making it the largest protocol in a lending market worth about $52.12 billion across 515 platforms. Aave represents roughly 32.8% of the sector’s total value.

At publication, $AAVE was trading at approximately $132.29, up 1.39% over 24 hours, while remaining down 1.89% over the past week and 27.62% over the past month. Standard Chartered forecasts $AAVE could reach $3,500 by 2030 as DeFi lending and tokenized assets expand.