What happened
Aave's governance token AAVE traded at $130. 38 on Wednesday morning UTC, sitting in a tight range that has now held for several sessions. Blockchain.
News reported at 09:24 UTC that MACD momentum had flattened to a near dead reading, an unusual pause given the intraday order-book activity underneath. The same note flagged a divergence in positioning: top-tier accounts on major perpetual venues were pressing long, while retail-heavy cohorts skewed net short. Open interest in AAVE perps climbed through the session even as spot price barely moved, per the report.
That combination - flat price, rising OI, split cohort positioning - is the setup Blockchain. News called out as the reason it sees $140 as the target bulls are lining up for.
Why it matters
AAVE isn't a headline coin most weeks, but it's the governance token behind one of DeFi's largest lending protocols, and its perp market is deep enough that positioning shifts show up cleanly. When smart-money cohorts lean one way and retail leans the other, the tape usually resolves in the direction of the informed side. That's the read Blockchain.
News is putting on Wednesday's book. The nut of it: open interest doesn't build on flat price by accident. Somebody is adding risk.
When top-tier accounts are the ones adding, and retail is fading them, the burden of proof sits with the shorts. A close through $140 would confirm the setup. A rejection there, and the same OI build becomes fuel for a squeeze the other way.