Kraken Parent Payward Buys AAVE Tokens to Expand DeFi Push

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has acquired an undisclosed amount of AAVE tokens alongside its asset management clients, expanding its exposure to decentralized finance (DeFi) and its plans to explore opportunities in digital asset management.

The purchases were made through Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, and involved tokens acquired on the secondary market. The Wyoming-based company said it may make additional purchases as it deepens its involvement in the DeFi sector.

AAVE price was trading at approximately $132.29, up 1.39% over 24 hours, but remained down 1.89% over the past week and 27.62% over the past month.

Payward also said it is exploring potential areas of collaboration with Aave, although it did not disclose specific plans or provide further details about the discussions.

Why Payward is betting on Aave’s position in DeFi

Payward is investing in more than a cryptocurrency. Aave is one of the biggest players in decentralized lending, giving the Kraken parent exposure to a major part of the DeFi credit market.

According to DeFiLlama, Aave holds approximately $17.06 billion in total value locked (TVL), making it the largest protocol in a lending market worth about $52.12 billion across 515 platforms.

It accounts for roughly 32.8% of the sector’s total value, giving it a leading position among decentralized lending platforms.

Aave also continues to generate substantial activity from its lending business. The protocol collected $39.63 million in fees over the past 30 days, including approximately $5.15 million in protocol revenue.

Over the trailing year, its annualized fees reached about $624.51 million, while annualized revenue stood at approximately $88.7 million.

Aave has also been expanding its lending infrastructure through new institutional use cases. In October, it launched its first externally curated Aave V4 markets on Ethereum, with institutional DeFi platform Sentora managing three isolated lending markets.

AAVE is also the protocol’s governance token, giving holders voting rights over decisions affecting its operations and treasury. Payward’s investment therefore provides exposure to a token tied to one of DeFi’s largest lending ecosystems.

For Payward, the investment fits into a broader effort to build an asset management business spanning digital assets, structured yield, and tokenized investments.

“This investment reflects our long-term conviction in on-chain credit markets and DeFi, as well as growing demand from our clients for exposure to the infrastructure shaping the future of finance,” said Gurpreet Oberoi, Payward’s vice president of asset management and institutional.

Payward expands beyond Kraken’s crypto exchange business

Payward is looking to build a business that goes beyond running Kraken’s cryptocurrency exchange. Over the past few months, the company has moved into derivatives, stablecoin payments, tokenized stocks, and services for institutional investors.

In April, Payward agreed to acquire Bitnomial, a US derivatives exchange, for up to $550 million. It followed this with the completion of its acquisition of stablecoin payments company Reap in July, under a deal valued at up to $600 million.

The company also partnered with Ledger in September to bring cold storage to its xStocks platform. The integration allows eligible users to hold tokenized stocks in Ledger hardware wallets and approve transactions directly from their devices.

Payward is also reportedly in talks with Wells Fargo to provide crypto liquidity for the bank’s planned digital asset trading services. Under the proposed arrangement, Payward would handle trade execution and pricing through Kraken Prime, while Wells Fargo maintains its existing customer relationships.

The AAVE purchase fits into this expansion, as it could also create opportunities for closer ties between Kraken’s institutional business and Aave’s on-chain lending network.

Standard Chartered Sees AAVE Rising to $3,500 by 2030

Although Payward said the purchase was about more than acquiring AAVE tokens, describing it as part of a push into DeFi and onchain credit markets, the investment could also pay off if the sector sees stronger growth in the coming years.

Aave has already attracted an ambitious long-term price forecast from Standard Chartered.

In June 2026, the bank’s head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, set a $3,500 target for AAVE by the end of 2030.

He expects the protocol to benefit from renewed DeFi activity and growing use of tokenized real-world assets in lending markets.

Kendrick also believes Aave has recovered from the disruption caused by the April cyberattack involving KelpDAO’s rsETH bridge. The incident triggered withdrawals and raised concerns about potential losses for the lending protocol.

However, he argued that Aave remains well positioned in the onchain lending market as assets return to the platform.

The $3,500 target is a long-term projection, not a guaranteed price. Still, it shows why Aave is attracting attention beyond its role as a major DeFi protocol.

To see how Kraken compares to other top retail and institutional trading platforms, read our guide to the best crypto exchanges.