AAVE Pushes Past $97 as DeFi United Unveils $300M Recovery Plan

Summary: DeFi United has published the full technical plan to recover 107,000 rsETH still locked in exploiter wallets after the April 18 KelpDAO exploit. The coalition has secured over 132,000 ETH (~$300M) in commitments from Consensys, Aave DAO, Mantle, and others. AAVE has rallied from $87 to $97, clearing the resistance from our April 23 analysis, and $100 is now the key breakout level. 

Key Takeaways

• DeFi United released the full technical recovery plan on April 28. Two parallel tracks target restoring rsETH backing and liquidating exploiter positions to recover ~29,776 ETH across Aave and Compound.
• The coalition has secured over 132,000 ETH (~$300M+) from Consensys, Aave DAO, Mantle, EtherFi, Stani Kulechov, and others. Circle Ventures is buying AAVE tokens.
• AAVE has recovered from $87 to $97, clearing the resistance from our April 23 analysis. $100 is the key breakout level.

How DeFi United Plans to Fix This

We released a Technical Implementation Plan for restoring rsETH backing. The sequences of execution starts in the following days. https://t.co/zs7CXKv6ph

— Stani (@StaniKulechov) April 28, 2026

The plan runs on two parallel tracks. The first focuses on restoring rsETH's backing ratio to 1.07 ETH per rsETH by converting committed ETH into rsETH in tranches and depositing it into the LayerZero bridge lockbox. Both LayerZero and KelpDAO have added security measures ahead of the bridge resuming, though residual risk remains until those measures are validated live.

The second track is the more technically complex piece. Seven exploiter wallets still hold approximately 107,000 rsETH in active positions across Aave V3 on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Compound. Because this rsETH is unbacked, normal liquidations will not work.

So the plan calls for a temporary oracle price adjustment, executed through governance proposals, to force liquidation of all affected positions. The recovered rsETH then gets redeemed for ETH, targeting roughly 13,000 ETH from Aave and 16,776 ETH from Compound. All protocol changes are fully reverted once the process is complete.

The coalition backing this is unprecedented in scale. Total commitments now exceed 132,000 ETH, worth over $300 million. The largest single pledge came from Consensys and Joe Lubin at 30,000 ETH, while the Aave DAO has proposed pulling 25,000 ETH from its own treasury.

Mantle is offering a 30,000 ETH credit facility, and EtherFi committed 5,000 ETH alongside a personal 5,000 ETH pledge from Aave founder Stani Kulechov.

Circle Ventures is also actively buying AAVE tokens to support the protocol. Most of these commitments still need to clear governance votes, but the breadth of participation across competing protocols is something DeFi has never seen before.

AAVE Price: From $87 Panic Low to Testing $97

In our April 23 analysis, we flagged $90.72 as the level bulls needed to hold and $97 as the first major resistance where the 20-day moving average sat. AAVE has now rallied roughly 11% from its panic bottom at $87, reclaimed $90 as support, and is pressing into that exact $97 zone. The real question is the $100 area. A decisive move above it signals sentiment shifting from crisis to cautious optimism. If $97 rejects instead, the $90 to $92 zone is where buyers should look to step back in.

What to Expect Next

• Bullish: AAVE breaks above $100 as governance proposals pass and the recovery plan begins execution. The $105 zone (50-day MA from our previous TA) becomes the next target.
• Bearish: Governance proposals stall or the exploiter interferes with the liquidation sequence. AAVE retests $90-$92
• Key catalyst: Watch for the Aave DAO governance vote on the 25,000 ETH treasury allocation and any movement from the exploiter's wallets.
• Invalidation: A daily close below $87 means the market does not believe the recovery plan will work.

Ten days after the exploit, Aave has gone from an $8 billion TVL drop to a $300 million recovery coalition with a live technical plan, and AAVE price has followed by climbing from $87 back to $97. Governance proposals still need to pass, the exploiter could interfere, and clean execution across multiple protocols is required. But competing DeFi projects coming together at this scale is clearly what the market is pricing in. If $100 breaks, the worst of this crisis is behind AAVE.

What is DeFi United's recovery plan?

A two-track approach. The first track restores rsETH's 1.07 ETH backing through staged deposits into the bridge lockbox, and the second liquidates exploiter positions across Aave and Compound using temporary oracle adjustments. The combined target is roughly 29,776 ETH in recovered funds.

How much has been pledged?

Over 132,000 ETH, worth more than $300 million. The largest contributions come from Consensys at 30,000 ETH, the Aave DAO at 25,000 ETH (pending governance), and Mantle's 30,000 ETH credit facility. EtherFi and Stani Kulechov each committed 5,000 ETH.

Is the stolen rsETH still recoverable?

About 107,000 of the original 116,500 rsETH is still sitting in seven exploiter wallets on Aave and Compound. It is on-chain and targetable, but the exploiter could interfere since they still control the positions.

What AAVE levels should I watch?

$97 is the immediate resistance being tested right now, with $100 as the psychological breakout that would signal the crisis sentiment is behind us. On the downside, $90 to $92 has held as support since the initial recovery, and $87 is the panic bottom that invalidates the bullish thesis if broken.