
Author: Akshay
Published On: Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:16:44 GMT

Stani Kulechov is the founder of Aave (AAVE), one of the earliest and most influential decentralized lending protocols in the crypto ecosystem. He launched the project in 2017 under the name ETHLend before rebranding it to Aave, expanding its scope, and introducing the AAVE governance token. His work helped pioneer overcollateralized lending, flash loans, and decentralized liquidity markets.
Kulechov is known for advancing open-source finance, emphasizing security, transparency, and user-owned governance. Under his leadership, Aave grew into a multi-chain liquidity protocol used across Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche, and more, becoming a foundational building block of DeFi.