TLDR
- Aave fell over $30 amid WLFI token allocation rumors from an Oct. 2024 proposal.
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WLFI denied claims that Aave would receive 7% of its token supply.
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Aave founder signaled the proposal terms remain valid despite denials.
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DeFi TVL has climbed to $167B, driven by institutional interest post-2024 elections.
Aave (AAVE) price has dropped sharply following conflicting statements regarding a token allocation proposal from World Liberty Financial (WLFI). The decentralized finance token declined more than 8%, falling from $385 to a low of $339, before recovering slightly to around $352.
The drop followed rumors that WLFI would allocate 7% of its total token supply and 20% of future protocol revenues to the Aave DAO. The terms were based on a governance proposal from October 2024. WLFI denied these terms on Saturday, stating through blockchain reporter Colin Wu that the rumors were “false and fake news.”
The conflicting statements caused rapid debate on social media and contributed to the sharp movement in Aave’s token price.
Aave Founder Comments While WLFI Denies Claims
While WLFI publicly rejected the proposal terms, Aave founder Stani Kulechov referenced the original October 2024 arrangement, describing it as “the art of the deal.” He suggested that the original proposal remained valid, creating further confusion over whether the allocation had been agreed to or not.
The October proposal reportedly outlined that Aave’s DAO would receive a portion of WLFI’s circulating token supply and revenues, based on WLFI’s planned deployment on Aave v3. The discrepancy between WLFI’s latest comments and Kulechov’s statements has left the community uncertain about the deal’s current status.
The WLFI team told WuBlockchain that the claim that "Aave will receive 7% of the total WLFI token supply" is false and fake news. Previously, a community member claimed that, according to a previously released proposal, AaveDAO would receive 20% of the protocol fees generated by…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 23, 2025
Both Aave and WLFI did not respond to media inquiries by the time of publication, leaving key questions unresolved.
DeFi Growth Attracts Institutional Attention
The recent events come as DeFi continues to attract increased attention from institutional players. According to data from DeFiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance has surpassed $167 billion, nearing the record high from late 2021.
Much of the growth has come after the 2024 U.S. elections, where expectations of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment increased. Platforms like Aave have benefited from renewed interest, though community concerns remain over how traditional financial interests may shape the evolution of DeFi.
As the space grows, partnerships and governance arrangements like the one involving WLFI are becoming more common, leading to increased scrutiny and market reaction when communication is unclear.
Debate Over DeFi Independence and Protocol Governance
The WLFI-Aave situation has also reignited debates within the crypto community about the relationship between decentralized protocols and external platforms backed by political or corporate interests.
While Aave operates under a decentralized governance model, the discussion has raised concerns over how proposals are communicated and the degree of transparency required when external funding or partnerships are involved.
The conflicting claims over WLFI’s proposal underline the challenges DeFi protocols face in maintaining clear and consistent community messaging.
