Whale Activity Surrounds AAVE: $25M Bought in 4 Days, $29.8M in Unrealized Gains

The DeFi giant AAVE is once more in the limelight as major crypto investors—commonly called whales—step up their accumulation of the protocol’s native token.

In just the last four days, institutional players acting through Wintermute’s OTC desk have plowed another $10 million into AAVE, adding to an already large position that has grown steadily over the past year.

The recent batch of buying has added to the expanding suspicion that heavy hitters are lining up for a big DeFi comeback—with Aave possibly playing a central role.

Information gathered from on-chain trackers shows that whales have amassed 94,770 AAVE over the last four days, shelling out a total of $25 million at a not-so-whale-average price of $263.80. Those purchases were made using Wintermute OTC, a key market maker and liquidity provider in the crypto space that works with whale-sized clients and trades.

This latest acquisition, both in timing and scale, appears to show that AAVE’s mid-to-long-term prospects are looking better than ever. Meanwhile, the average purchase price of assets during this buying spree is actually above AAVE’s historical averages. So investors are essentially paying a premium to secure their holdings. And that suggests to me that they might be banking on at least one of two scenarios: the protocol’s future innovations or broader growth in DeFi adoption.

The most recent purchase, for $25 million, is just the tip of the iceberg. These same whale wallets have been accumulating AAVE at a steady pace since March 2023, and their total investment now amounts to an astonishing $40.8 million. With 261,066 AAVE tokens in their collective possession, their average cost basis now stands at $156.30.

At present AAVE’s market price, this group of investors is positioned with an unrealized profit of around $29.8 million—a relatively significant figure and a clear sign that their strategy of long-term accumulation is indeed paying off.

This denotes a meaning of commitment with strategic assurance rather than for speculative purposes. The AAVE token, which functions as a core governance and staking asset within the Aave ecosystem, is a pillar foundational to the DeFi landscape. With protocol upgrades and multi-chain deployments adding to its functionality, and reach of the Aave ecosystem, it’s no wonder that certain investors are cozying up to the AAVE token.

The Aave DAO itself adds to the bullish narrative, with the DAO accumulating AAVE on its own books. To date, the Aave DAO has purchased 38,565 AAVE tokens with an average cost of $180.64.

Compared to whale wallets, the DAO’s modest holdings tell a different story. The governing body of the protocol clearly sees value in holding the protocol’s native token for the future—a much more meaningful inference than saying the same thing about holding Bitcoin or Ethereum. Why? Because even governance tokens confer some influence, and there are plenty of governance-related strategies that could give the holder a long-term edge if you hold the right kind of governance token.

Another way to interpret this purchase is as a strategic reserve, allowing the DAO to fund operations, liquidity programs, or community grants. This move also puts Aave’s governance participants in league with other long-term stakeholders, reinforcing an alignment between the protocol’s leadership and its most heavily invested backers.

The recent surge of whale activity surrounding AAVE sends a clear message: institutional investors have confidence in Aave’s long-term vision. With total accumulated investments of $40.8 million and an eye-popping unrealized profit of $29.8 million, these whales are casting their lots with Aave and making a bet on its future. What is it about Aave that has so many folks swimming with the AAVE? Here are a few potential reasons.

The Aave DAO makes strategic buys itself, and this also contributes to a very bullish sentiment around Aave. There are two likely scenarios here. Either this accumulation suggests a major price movement is incoming or it hints at a really soon upgrade in the Aave protocol. The other thing we can be absolutely sure of is that this here is smart money moving into an asset.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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