Patient AAVE Investor Turns $500K to $13M

An early investor in the native token for the DeFi project, AAVE is sitting on over $12.5 million in profits after holding the asset for three and a half years.

The cryptocurrency market is rife with stories of investors who make millions of dollars in a few days or weeks by investing in a meme coin or other projects with less valuable potential. Yet, while such stories are often mind-blowing, history shows that even better long-term results can be achieved by investing long-term in projects showing remarkable potential.

That proved to be true in the case of an investor who acquired tokens in DeFi protocol, Aave (previously known as EthLend). In the early days of the DeFi industry, on-chain data shows that the said address invested approximately $500K to acquire 12.5 million LEND tokens at a $0.04 price.

In 2020, Aave underwent a major change that saw the conversion of LEND tokens to AAVE at a rate of 100:1. Thus, the investor received 125,000 AAVE, which they staked and hung on to for the past three years.

Fast forward to the present, on-chain tracker Lookonchain found that the address has now finally realized profits on their investment. The investor sold 30,000 AAVE tokens via DeFi protocol Cumberland and realized $3 million, or around 500%, on their initial investment. At the same time, the address still holds over 100,000 AAVE tokens (worth around $10 million).

In 3.6 years, this early $AAVE buyer turned $500K into $13M, making $12.5M(25x)!

He sold $30,000 $AAVE($3.01M) via #Cumberland to take profits 6 hrs ago and has 100K $AAVE($10M) left.

He spent 500K $USDC to buy 12.5M $LEND at $0.04 on May 6, 2020 (migrated to 12,500 $AAVE). pic.twitter.com/vd80wLHIIO

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 27, 2023

Patience Pays Off But Could Have Been More 

The Aave investor’s story lends credence to how long-term holding of the right crypto assets can prove a viable strategy. However, it is noteworthy that the investor may have realized a lot more profit if they sold a portion of their portfolio in 2021.

Precisely, AAVE hit an all-time high of $666 in May 2021. Hence, the latest 30,000 AAVE sale may have yielded close to $20 million. In either case, the investor notably still holds a significant exposure to the asset and may look to capitalize on building bullish momentum to realize more profits in the future. 

If AAVE reaches its previous all-time high, the investor’s current holdings would be worth around $100 million. At the time of writing, AAVE is trading at around $100.4, an 80% increase since the start of the year.