Aave, Solana Tokens Drive Crypto Recovery While Bitcoin Holds Near $60K

Tokenized stock trading injected fresh momentum into the Solana ecosystem, while Aave’s founder signaled potential token buybacks under a new framework.

Bitcoin (BTC) stabilized around the $60,000 level on Friday following this week’s downturn, but the strongest gains were seen in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens and assets within the Solana ecosystem.

Aave’s native token (AAVE), tied to the largest DeFi lending protocol, led the rally with a 19% surge over the past 24 hours. This followed reports that crypto exchange Kraken is considering a strategic investment in the protocol, potentially acquiring a 15% stake at a $385 million valuation.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov dismissed speculation that Aave-related assets could be offloaded at a steep discount. He emphasized that all protocol revenue — currently running at an annualized $134 million — is directed to the Aave DAO, ultimately benefiting AAVE holders under the newly introduced “Aave Will Win” framework.

Kulechov also hinted at “Aavenomics 3.0,” a forthcoming update to the token’s structure that will include an automated buyback mechanism.

Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) and its broader ecosystem outperformed the market, with SOL climbing nearly 10% on the day.

Activity in tokenized stock trading continued to surge, exceeding $2.5 billion in weekly volume — a tenfold increase from a month earlier, according to RWA.xyz. This growth gave Solana more than 80% of the total market share in tokenized equity trading across blockchains.

The uptick in activity lifted several Solana-based DeFi tokens, particularly those linked to trading infrastructure.

Jito (JTO), which powers the network’s largest liquid staking protocol and recently launched a trading platform, jumped 30%. Tokens tied to Solana decentralized exchanges, including Raydium (RAY) and Meteora (MET), rose about 7%, while lending and liquidity protocol Kamino Finance (KMNO) gained 9%.