Stani Kulechov, the founder of Aave, has bought a five-story Victorian mansion in the prestigious Notting Hill area of London for £22 million (approximately $30 million). This transaction marks one of the most expensive residential property purchases in the city over the past year, according to Bloomberg.
Reports indicate that the businessman completed the purchase in November, with the final price being £2 million lower than the initial expectations of realtors.
Kulechov's representative declined to comment.
The Aave creator was born in Estonia and raised in Finland. He launched the project in 2017 and currently serves as the CEO of its parent company, Avara. Kulechov also oversees the social blockchain Lens Protocol, the stablecoin platform GHO, and the Family crypto wallet.
Aave's Performance and Internal Disputes
Aave maintains its position as the leading decentralized lending protocol by total value locked, which currently stands at $29.8 billion.
Source: DefiLlama.In late 2025, a conflict arose within the project's community regarding the return of control over the Aave brand, domains, and intellectual property to the DAO.
The confrontation between the development company and ecosystem participants began after a controversial deal. In early December, Aave Labs partnered with CoW Swap "to improve swap pricing and integrate MEV protection into the protocol's interface."
Later, a delegate known as EzR3aL claimed that the fees from the updated swap contracts were now being sent to a private wallet controlled by Aave Labs. This led to the decentralized organization losing a significant portion of its revenue, which outraged the community.
Kulechov was also accused of spending $10 million to buy votes for control over the protocol. Former Aave Labs CTO Ernesto Boado, identified as the proposal's author, expressed concerns about trust being undermined. He stated that the voting on the Snapshot platform was initiated prematurely and without his consent.
Ultimately, a majority of ecosystem participants (55.29%) voted against the initiative. Amid this "civil war," AAVE lost 19% in value over the week.
It’s worth noting that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has criticized modern DAOs and called for their reform.