Из жизни альткоинов

Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov has responded to recent governance tensions within the Aave ecosystem, outlining a strategic plan to address operational control concerns and accelerate long-term growth. The controversy followed a DAO vote on whether the community should assume full control over the protocol’s brand and front-end assets. The proposal was decisively rejected—with 55% voting against, 41% abstaining, and just 3.5% in favor—highlighting persistent questions around value capture and alignment between Aave Labs and token holders.

In a post on Friday, Kulechov framed the present moment as a crossroads for Aave, emphasizing that the protocol’s growth cannot be limited to its current crypto-native lending products. He sees enormous potential in expanding into real-world assets (RWAs) and institutional markets, projecting that Aave could ultimately support a $500 trillion asset base and onboard tens of millions of users through the Aave App. 

Kulechov said:

Today, most of Aave’s lending is concentrated around ETH, BTC, or leverage-driven looping strategies correlated with crypto market cycles. When I started Aave (originally as ETHLend) in 2017, the vision was to use smart contracts to power lending across virtually all asset classes and use cases.

A core aspect of this strategy is the upcoming Aave V4, a modular architecture designed to integrate new lending models and asset classes safely. The design allows innovation without compromising protocol integrity, enabling both crypto-native and RWA-backed use cases while creating a developer-friendly environment to encourage innovation.

Addressing operational concerns, Kulechov stressed that mainstream consumer-grade products needed to onboard millions of users should be developed by independent, highly autonomous teams on top of the permissionless Aave Protocol rather than funded or controlled directly by the DAO. This approach ensures rapid execution while allowing the protocol to benefit from increased usage and revenue.

Kulechov said:

World class consumer products are built by highly opinionated teams with the autonomy to move quickly. While decentralized governance works well for protocol economics, it is not suited for product-level decision making.

Kulechov also pledged to share revenue generated outside the protocol with token holders and confirmed that upcoming proposals will include clear guardrails for branding and revenue alignment. In his concluding notes, Kulechov reinforced his belief in Aave’s potential while also appealing for collaboration to drive the protocol and its native token’s success.

BlackRock pushed into digital assets massively in 2025, with on-chain data revealing just how aggressive the leading asset manager became in accumulating Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Blockchain tracking data shows that the world’s largest asset manager expanded its cryptocurrency holdings by more than $23 billion in 2025, and this is one of the biggest institutional accumulation phases seen in the year. The figures highlight a sustained commitment to Bitcoin and Ethereum, even as price action turned bearish towards the end of the year.

Crypto was at the forefront of BlackRock’s investment strategy in 2025. According to data from on-chain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence, BlackRock’s on-chain cryptocurrency holdings at the start of 2025 were $54.83 billion. By January 1, 2026, that figure had risen to about $78.36 billion, representing a net increase of roughly $23.52 billion over the course of the year. 

These figures mean that by the end of 2025, BlackRock’s crypto portfolio had grown by about 43% compared to the start of the year. Unsurprisingly, the accumulation was concentrated almost entirely in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two biggest assets leading institutional exposure to the crypto industry.

Bitcoin was the dominant holding by value. BlackRock’s BTC stash grew from around 552,550 BTC worth about $51.16 billion in January 2025 to about 770,290 BTC valued at $68.05 billion in January 2026. This translates to an increase of approximately 217,740 BTC, adding about $16.88 billion to the firm’s portfolio based on year-end valuations. 

Even with Bitcoin’s price down about 5% from January 2025, the increase in BTC units held grew by 39%, which, in turn, pushed the total value higher.

Ethereum, although smaller in absolute terms, saw even faster relative growth. Holdings expanded from 1.07 million ETH valued at $3.59 billion in January 2025 to about 3.47 million ETH worth $10.31 billion in January 2026. That represents an increase of nearly 2.4 million ETH, contributing around $6.71 billion to BlackRock’s crypto holdings in 2025.

These numbers mean that BlackRock’s ETH holdings grew by more than 224% over the year, far outpacing Bitcoin’s 39% increase.

The bulk of BlackRock’s crypto buying in 2025 was due to persistent inflows into its spot exchange-traded products. Investor demand for regulated exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum was strong for much of the year, particularly during rallies that pushed both assets toward fresh all-time highs.

At the same time, corrective phases in the crypto market were accompanied by notable ETF outflows. This trend supports the view that Bitcoin and Ethereum price action is becoming increasingly linked to ETF activity, and BlackRock is the dominant issuer within those flows.

BlackRock has not yet established a presence in the XRP market. The asset manager does not currently offer a Spot XRP ETF, and spokespersons have previously stated that the company has no immediate plans to launch one.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView