Aave, Solana lead crypto price gains as bitcoin (BTC) steadies near $60,000
Tokenized stock trading fueled fresh momentum across the Solana ecosystem, while Aave founder hinted at token buybacks coming under new framework.
By Krisztian Sandor|Edited by Stephen Alpher
Jun 26, 2026, 8:15 p.m.
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Summary
Bitcoin BTC$59,670.87 found some footing around $60,000 on Friday after this week’s selloff, but the biggest gains came from decentralized finance (DeFi) and the Solana ecosystem.
Leading the advance was the native token of Aave AAVE$93.06, the largest DeFi lending protocol, which jumped 19% over the past 24 hours. CoinDesk reported Thursday that crypto exchange Kraken is exploring a strategic investment tied to the lending protocol, acquiring a 15% stake at a $385 million valuation.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov pushed back in an X post against the suggestion that Aave assets could be sold at a steep discount. He reiterated that all protocol revenue — currently running at an annualized $134 million, he said. — flows to the Aave DAO and ultimately benefits AAVE token holders under the protocol’s recently adopted “Aave Will Win” framework.
Kulechov also teased “Aavenomics 3.0,” an upcoming overhaul for the token’s design that will introduce an automated buyback mechanism.
Solana (SOL), the layer-1 blockchain known for its fast speed, and its ecosystem also outperformed, with SOL climbing nearly 10% on Friday.
Trading activity around tokenized stocks continued to accelerate, topping $2.5 billion in volume through this week and 10-times larger than a month ago, according to RWA.xyz. That gave the network more than 80% share in tokenized equity trading across all blockchains.
The surge lifted several Solana DeFi tokens, especially tied to trading infrastructure protocols.
JTO$0.8562, which operates Solana’s largest liquid staking protocol, provides infrastructure that helps validators maximize reward and unveiled a new trading platform last month, soared 30%. Tokens of Solana-based decentralized exchanges RAY$0.6112 and Meteora (MET) gained about 7%, while lending and liquidity protocol Kamino Finance (KMNO) advanced 9%.
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