The decentralized finance protocol Aave has experienced a notable surge in price, driven by significant whale accumulation and the recent launch of its V3.1 update. This uptick comes as the market rebounds from a recent downturn that saw most altcoins hitting key support levels earlier this week.
On July 31, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that whales had aggressively accumulated Aave (AAVE) tokens, withdrawing over 58,848 AAVE, valued at approximately $6.47 million, from exchanges over the past two days. Notably, the whale address 0x9af4 withdrew 11,185 AAVE worth $1.23 million from Binance. Another significant transaction involved 21,619 AAVE, valued at over $2.38 million, being moved from an exchange into the Aave protocol.
These actions followed an earlier transfer of 26,044 AAVE, amounting to over $2.83 million, by the whale address 0xd7c5 from Binance. The cumulative effect of these withdrawals has been a 7% increase in AAVE’s price over the past 24 hours, with the token now trading around $111. This represents an 18% gain over the past week.
The price rally was further bolstered by a recent announcement from Aave’s founder, Marc Zeller, regarding a proposal for a fee switch aimed at implementing a buyback program for AAVE tokens.
Aave V3.1 Launch: The total value locked (TVL) in the Aave protocol currently stands at approximately $22 billion, with around $19.9 billion on Aave V3, $1.9 billion on V2, and $14.6 million on V1, according to data from DeFiLlama. Aave Labs confirmed earlier today that the V3.1 update is now live across all networks hosting active Aave V3 instances. This latest version includes enhancements designed to bolster the protocol’s security, operational efficiency, and usability. These improvements were approved by Aave DAO governance.
In addition, Aave Labs has unveiled an ambitious roadmap for the project, highlighting plans for Aave V4 and other developments extending into 2030.