By Decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol Aave has seen its token nosedive in the past hours, with a 10% dip that has prices hovering below $160.
AAVE is experiencing sharp volatility as the community reacts to a major whale sell-off and as top cryptocurrencies continue to suffer bearish pressure.
Losses for AAVE have brought its downturn over the past week to over 17%.
Per data by CoinMarketCap, the DeFi token ranks among the top losers in the 100 largest coins by market cap as of writing.
AAVE was the top loser among the DeFi tokens.
PancakeSwap, Pendle, and Uniswap were also in the red.
Aave price falls 10% as whale offloads 230,350 AAVE
While overall weakness remains a key factor, the primary catalyst for the latest downturn for AAVE appears to be a significant sell-off by a large holder.
On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain tracked a wallet address that offloaded 230,350 AAVE tokens, valued at roughly $37.6 million.
Notably, the whale did not convert the holdings directly into fiat or stablecoins but instead swapped them for 5,869.46 staked Ether (stETH) worth about $17.5 million, and 227.8 wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) worth around $20.1 million.
Whale 0xa923 sold 230,350 $AAVE($37.8M) for 5,869 $stETH($17.62M) and 228 $WBTC($20.2M) at a loss in the past 4 hours. This big dump resulted in a loss of ~$13.75M and triggered a 10% drop in $AAVE‘s price. debank.com/profile/0xa923…
As such, this reallocation suggests a strategic portfolio adjustment rather than a complete exit from the market.
However, the sheer volume of the trades exerted considerable downward pressure on AAVE price.
Selling triggered a sharp 10% decline and saw prices drop below $160.
Per the charts, Aave price dropped from intraday highs of $179, with a steep crash from above $176 to lows of $158.
What’s next for AAVE price?
While the whale realised losses on the sale, overall sentiment amid the selling has AAVE under pressure.
From a technical perspective, AAVE’s price action has entered a critical juncture following the whale-induced sell-off.
The token is currently testing a key support zone around $158 that previously helped bulls in November.
At the time, the area provided buying interest as the price moved to $188, then to $207.
However, this level aligns with the middle line of a descending channel, and a breakdown could see AAVE dump further.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart hovers near 36 and signaling downside strengthening towards oversold levels.
While declining exchange balances and likely whale accumulation might infuse fresh optimism, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator has a bearish crossover.
The short-term outlook is therefore largely precarious amid elevated volatility and broader market uncertainty.
Bulls can stabilise if the price climbs above $170, with the key resistance at the 50-day exponential moving average currently around $193.
Meanwhile, bears might fancy lows of $129.
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