TL;DR
- Aave founder Stani Kulechov sold 55,596 AAVE tokens valued at $6.67 million.
- The cryptocurrency has seen a 66% increase in price over the past 30 days.
- Major crypto whales have been purchasing large amounts during the recent price surge.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov has shocked the cryptocurrency community by selling a significant portion of his AAVE tokens during a time of strong growth in their value.
As of February 26, 2024, Kulechov has sold a total of 55,596 AAVE, equivalent to $6.67 million.
Stani Kulechov(@StaniKulechov), the founder of #Aave is selling $AAVE!
Since Feb 26, Stani Kulechov has sold 55,596 $AAVE($6.67M) and currently holds 243,900 $AAVE($32.7M).
Address:
0xe705b1D26B85c9F9f91A3690079D336295F14F08 pic.twitter.com/0D95c6L5xJ— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) September 5, 2024
Despite this sizable sale, Kulechov remains one of the largest AAVE holders, holding over 243,000 tokens, currently valued at around $32.7 million.
Aave, the native token of its decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has been one of the top gainers over the past 30 days, recording an impressive 66% increase in price.
This growth has far outpaced the performance of other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Solana, which have recorded much more modest increases of 11% and 12% respectively.
Part of the momentum in the crypto price is attributed to the recent launch of Aave V3 on the Era Mainnet, powered by ZKsync, which has improved its scaling and privacy capabilities, attracting more users and institutional investors.
Kulechov’s selling move has sparked some speculation, but it hasn’t dampened interest in AAVE, especially among crypto whales.
Recent data shows that several large whales have taken advantage of the price surge to acquire large amounts of the cryptocurrency.
One investor, in particular, purchased 50,604 tokens in a single transaction, equivalent to $6.7 million.
This whale, who had already purchased 77,270 AAVE tokens in August worth $10.4 million, now owns a total of 125,605 tokens, with an average purchase price of $134.6 per token.
The impact of massive sales and purchases on Aave
Sales by the founder and purchases by whales have created a volatile environment in the AAVE market.
However, while some big investors have been accumulating, not everyone has been so lucky.
An early token holder decided to sell his entire holding of 17,447 tokens, worth approximately $2.16 million, incurring a loss of $2.14 million.
Such decisions underscore the risks inherent in cryptocurrency trading, where rapid fluctuations in value can lead to both significant gains and unexpected losses.
Despite these sell-offs, overall market sentiment on the cryptocurrency remains positive.
The launch of its V3 version and anticipated institutional adoption bode well for continued growth for the protocol, which has been a mainstay in the DeFi space.
Whales, who have continued to purchase large amounts of AAVE, appear to be betting long-term on the project’s success.
While Stani Kulechov’s recent sale has garnered attention, it hasn’t stopped Aave from maintaining strong bullish momentum.
Backed by large investors and an improved technological foundation, the future of the token looks promising, although, as always in the world of cryptocurrencies, conditions can change quickly.