Kraken Reportedly in Talks for a 15% Stake in Aave at a $385M Valuation, AAVE Jumps

Kraken is in talks to acquire a 15 percent stake in Aave, one of the largest DeFi lending protocols, according to a CoinDesk report citing sources. The reported deal would value Aave Group, the corporate entity behind the protocol, at roughly 385 million dollars. It is important to stress that this is a report of advanced discussions, not a closed deal: both Kraken and Aave declined to comment or did not respond, and neither side has confirmed it.

What is reportedly on the table

According to CoinDesk, the structure would see Kraken, operating under its parent company Payward, invest 35,000 ether, worth roughly 31 million dollars, in return for 250,000 AAVE tokens plus a 15 percent common-equity stake in Aave Group. The total transaction is reported at around 71 million dollars, and Kraken is said to be looking to syndicate part of it by bringing in co-investors. The 385 million dollar figure is the equity valuation reporters cite, not the larger number some get by dividing the deal size by the stake.

Why Kraken would want a piece of Aave

The reported investment would be the first under a new Payward Asset Management initiative, an effort to expand Kraken's activity beyond its core exchange business and take a more active role in DeFi. It fits a broader diversification push ahead of a potential Kraken initial public offering: the exchange recently agreed to acquire derivatives platform Bitnomial and has raised capital around a roughly 20 billion dollar valuation. For a centralized exchange to take an equity position in a leading on-chain lending protocol is a notable sign of how the lines between centralized finance and DeFi are blurring.

AAVE's price reaction

AAVE rose sharply on the news, with aggregators showing gains in the area of 14 to 16 percent over 24 hours, though the exact figure varies by source and timestamp and CoinDesk's original report did not quantify it. It is worth noting the move had more than one driver: a day earlier, Standard Chartered published a bullish long-term forecast for AAVE, putting a speculative target of around 3,500 dollars by the end of 2030. That bank forecast is one analyst's opinion rather than a prediction of value, but combined with the Kraken report it gave AAVE two reasons to run in the same window.

Context: rebuilding after a rough spring

The reported interest also comes as Aave rebuilds from a difficult few months. In April 2026, attackers linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group exploited the KelpDAO cross-chain bridge to mint unbacked rsETH, deposited it as collateral on Aave, and borrowed real assets, leaving the protocol with an estimated 190 to 230 million dollars in bad debt and triggering large withdrawals. Importantly, Aave's own smart contracts were not breached; the weakness was in the bridge. An equity investment from a major exchange, if it closes, would be a meaningful vote of confidence in the protocol's recovery.

For now, treat this as a credible report rather than a done deal. You can always verify any token, including AAVE, with the DEXTools Token Safety Checker, and our roundup of 2026's largest DeFi hacks covers the KelpDAO exploit referenced above. This article is information only and is not financial advice.