Aave Founder Buys 84K AAVE, Will Prices Bottom amid ‘Civil War’?

Aave founder Stani Kulechov has made another heavy AAVE AAVE $152.0 24h volatility: 5.4% Market cap: $2.31 B Vol. 24h: $691.97 M token purchase as the project faces a major internal crisis. Data shared by Lookonchain shows Kulechov purchased 32,660 AAVE worth about $5.15 million at an average price of $158 during the early hours of Dec. 23.

This latest purchase follows several buys earlier in the week. Kulechov has accumulated a total of 84,033 AAVE over the past seven days at an average cost of $176, spending roughly $12.6 million. The position sits at an unrealized loss of about $2.2 million at the current price of $153.75.

The purchases come as Aave is dealing with a so-called governance “civil war” between Aave Labs, the development company founded by Kulechov, and parts of the Aave DAO. The dispute has driven sharp selling, whale exits, and a collapse in activity.

AAVE has fallen 18% over the past week and shed more than $500 million in market value. DexCheckAI reported that AAVE lost more than 980 on-chain holders in the past day, while trading activity dropped by over 85%.

Social sentiment around the Aave has also dropped. According to the data by DexCheckAI, roughly 59% of posts about AAVE are currently negative.

What Is Aave Governance ‘Civil War?’

Notably, around Dec. 4, Aave Labs announced an integration with CoW Swap to replace VeloraDEX on the official Aave interface. The change improved pricing and MEV protection for users, but it quietly changed where swap fees were sent.

By mid-December, DAO delegates discovered that swap fees from the new setup were flowing to Aave Labs wallets instead of the DAO treasury. Previously, similar fees generated around $200,000 per week, or more than $10 million per year, for the DAO.

Prominent delegate Marc Zeller publicly criticized the move as a serious governance issue. Some community members suggested plans to seize Aave Labs intellectual property, code, and brand assets, effectively turning Labs into a DAO-controlled unit.

Ernesto, a former Aave Labs CTO, argued that key brand assets should belong to the DAO since it funded much of the growth.

Snapshot Vote

On Dec. 22, Kulechov submitted a brand ownership proposal to Snapshot for voting, based on Ernesto’s earlier draft. Ernesto rejected the move, saying his name was used without approval and criticizing the holiday timing. Voting is scheduled between December 23 and 26.

Zeller also raised concerns over process and fairness.

During the same time, a whale sold 230,350 AAVE worth roughly $37 to $38 million and pushed the altcoin price 4.8% down in the past day. The Snapshot vote is now live, with the community split. Polymarket odds currently price the proposal at around a 5% chance of passing.

The post Aave Founder Buys 84K AAVE, Will Prices Bottom amid ‘Civil War’? appeared first on Coinspeaker.