Payward, the financial infrastructure platform powering Kraken, announced that Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, and its clients have acquired an undisclosed amount of AAVE, the native token of the Aave network. The tokens were purchased on secondary markets on November 5, 2026, with the company indicating it may make additional acquisitions in the future.
- Aave network size: $33 billion in net deposits and $11 billion in active loans
- AAVE function: Governance rights over the network and treasury
- Payward business pillar: Asset Management connecting investors to DeFi opportunities
- Aave framework: Will Win model directing revenue to DAO treasury and token holders
The investment reflects Payward’s strategic focus on Payward Asset Management, one of its five core business divisions, which provides client access to digital assets, structured yield products, and tokenized financial instruments. The company views decentralized finance as increasingly central to global financial infrastructure, with Aave positioned as a leading protocol in the sector. Aave operates as the largest onchain lending network, enabling users to deposit crypto or stablecoins to earn yield and borrow against their holdings through transparent blockchain smart contracts.
Onchain lending is quickly becoming an important part of the financial system, and Aave has established itself as one of the foundational protocols powering that shift. This investment reflects our long-term conviction in onchain credit markets and DeFi, as well as growing demand from our clients for exposure to the infrastructure shaping the future of finance.
– Gurpreet Oberoi, Vice President, Payward Asset Management and Institutional, Payward
Payward’s investment shows growing confidence in AAVE and in the Aave Will Win framework, which commits Aave Labs to growing the ecosystem and directing value back to the DAO and AAVE holders. Working with Payward is a strategic step toward bringing Aave to the next wave of retail and institutional users.
– Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO, Aave Labs
Under the Aave Will Win framework approved earlier in 2026, Aave Labs has committed to directing revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO treasury alongside existing network fees, aligning ecosystem growth with the interests of token holders. Payward operates as a unified financial infrastructure platform providing a single shared architecture for multiple product lines, including Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks.
Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO at Aave Labs. Source: LinkedIn
