Payward, the company behind Kraken, said its affiliated fund and the fund’s clients bought Aave (AAVE) tokens on secondary markets, adding a token investment as Payward builds its asset-management business.
Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP served as the vehicle for the purchases. Payward did not disclose the number of tokens acquired, the price or the trade dates. It said further purchases may follow, and that it and Aave are considering ways to work together without announcing a plan.
Payward described the investment as a milestone for its asset-management operation, which connects investors with opportunities involving digital assets, structured yield and tokenized financial instruments. Gurpreet Oberoi, vice president, Payward Asset Management and Institutional, said the purchase reflected the company’s “long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi.” Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov called working with Payward “a strategic step.”
Aave is a lending network where users can earn interest on digital-asset deposits, while borrowers back loans with collateral. The AAVE token gives holders a say in governance decisions concerning the network and its treasury, Payward said.
Payward’s announcement described Aave as having $33 billion in net deposits and $11 billion in active loans, without specifying a measurement date. Aavescan’s Nov. 1 snapshot listed $29.36 billion in deposits and $11.93 billion in active loans. The deposit figures use different labels, and the reported totals differ.
CoinDesk reported in June that a document described an earlier proposal involving 250,000 AAVE and a 15% common equity stake in Aave Group. The outlet attributed the talks and a $385 million valuation to people with knowledge of the matter. Payward’s Nov. 5 announcement described token purchases but did not mention an equity transaction.
