Whales added roughly $3 million in AAVE while the token suffered a sharp correction amid a high-profile governance clash, putting AAVE under renewed selling pressure. The accumulation by large holders coincided with a broader market shock triggered by a major sell-off and allegations over revenue diversion, immediately weighing on AAVE’s price and investor confidence.
A single, large sell transaction moved the market: about 230.350 AAVE tokens were sold between 2025-12-22 and 2025-12-23, equivalent to roughly $37.6–$38.0 million, with proceeds converted into Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and staked Ether (stETH). That exit was the proximate catalyst for an abrupt price correction, which analysts measured in a range from 7% to 18% across the recent session.
In the same window, Aave founder Stani Kulechov reportedly purchased about $5.15 million of AAVE, while other whales accumulated an estimated $3 million, a pattern that left selling pressure dominant and limited the effect of these buys.
Aave governance dispute over fee allocation
The price moves trace back to an unfolding governance dispute between the Aave DAO and Aave Labs over who controls revenue from front-end integrations such as the CoW Swap partnership. DAO refers to a decentralized autonomous organization that enables tokenholders to vote on protocol decisions. Critics allege that fees from those integrations—estimated at about $10 million annually—were being routed away from the DAO treasury, prompting accusations of “stealth privatization” and raising questions about brand asset control and value capture within the protocol.
The scale of the whale sell-off overwhelmed smaller accumulation efforts and amplified downside in AAVE. The event both reflected and intensified uncertainty over governance, as holders re-evaluated counterparty and protocol risk. Short-term derivatives and leveraged positions are likely to feel the effects: heightened volatility increases liquidation risk, and leverage will amplify losses for exposed traders.
AAVE’s near-term trajectory now depends on how the governance dispute is addressed and whether revenue allocation can be clarified to restore confidence.
