Aave founder Stani Kulechov purchased roughly $10 million of AAVE tokens before a high‑profile snapshot vote on a proposal to reclaim Aave brand assets (domains, socials, IP) into a DAO‑controlled legal structure. Community members accused the purchase of boosting his voting power to influence the vote; critics noted past token sales. Snapshot data show extreme vote concentration (top three hold >58%; top voter 27.06% / 333k AAVE). Proposal escalation to a snapshot was contested by the author, and Kulechov had not responded to requests for comment at publication.

Founder bought ~ $10M of AAVE ahead of a contentious governance vote about reclaiming brand assets; community accused the purchase of increasing voting power to influence the proposal; snapshot shows top three voters control >58% (top voter 27.06% / 333k AAVE), indicating concentrated voting that could materially affect the outcome and market perception.