Large On-chain Whale Sold Significantly Before "Aave Brand Decentralization" Proposal Launch Announcement, AAVE Plunges 12% This Morning

December 22 — On-chain analyst Yu Jin noted that large-scale selling was the main driver behind AAVE’s price drop this morning. The second-largest AAVE-holding whale address sold 230,000 AAVE tokens (worth ~$38 million) between 5:40 and 7:05 AM today, converting all proceeds into 227.8 WBTC and 5,869.4 stETH. These AAVE tokens were purchased from late last year to early this year at an average cost of ~$223.4. The sell-off at an average price of ~$165 is expected to incur a $13.45 million loss. HyperInsight monitoring data shows that due to AAVE’s short-term price drop this morning, the top bullish whale (address 0x074) on Hyperliquid saw its unrealized loss expand to 176% today. The whale holds a long position opened on November 16 with an average entry price of $189 and a position size of ~$1.2 million. Earlier today, the Aave community announced it will open voting on the “Brand Asset Control Transfer to Holders” ARFC proposal via Snapshot tomorrow at 10:40 AM. Voting runs through December 26. Some market analysts interpret the proposal as a “decentralized measure to transfer brand assets to DAO management.” While the move has raised concerns, it has also partially dimmed future expectations for brand asset flexibility — leading to short-term market repricing.