Payward, the unified financial infrastructure platform that powers Kraken, today announced that Digital Asset Special Investments I, LP, a Payward-affiliated investment fund, and its clients acquired an undisclosed amount of AAVE, the native token of the Aave network.

The AAVE tokens were acquired through secondary market purchases, and Payward may make additional acquisitions in the future.

This investment marks a milestone for Payward Asset Management, one of the company’s five key pillars, which connects investors with opportunities across digital assets, structured yield and tokenized financial instruments. As traditional and onchain markets converge, Payward believes DeFi is an integral part of the global financial system, with Aave playing a leading role in this evolution. Payward’s strong relationship with Aave enabled the company to pursue this joint investment for Payward’s clients seeking exposure to the fast-growing DeFi sector.

Aave is an onchain lending network, enabling users to lend and borrow digital assets. Its native AAVE token plays a leading role in the ecosystem, giving holders governance rights over the network and its treasury. Under the Aave Will Win framework approved earlier this year, Aave Labs has committed to directing revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO treasury, alongside the network fees it already receives. This token-centric model more closely aligns the growth of Aave’s ecosystem with the interests of its tokenholder-governed community.

“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,” said Gurpreet Oberoi, Vice President, Payward Asset Management and Institutional. “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.”

Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO at Aave Labs, said: “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.”