Institutions Reposition UNI and AAVE Amid Bearish Market Trends

The crypto market was rebounding, but the leading decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols were still deep in the red. Uniswap (UNI) declined by more than 1%, while Aave Protocol (AAVE) lost more than 2% of its market capitalization.

As the tokens and the sector as a whole continue to remain bearish, institutions seem to be repositioning. Observing the accumulation and distribution trends of some of these institutions, like Monetalis Consultancy, could help in re-strategizing.

The size of institutional capital tends to move markets depending on the action. However, sometimes these moves are for portfolio management and thus do not impact the price action.

Accumulation Trend for Monetalis Consultancy

A wallet, allegedly belonging to Monetalis Consultancy, was repositioning its holdings. According to The Data Nerd, the wallet deposited 325K UNI tokens, worth $1.24 million, to Wintermute, a market maker.

This wallet activity suggested a potential sale, reducing the portfolio to 3.27 million UNI tokens, valued at $12.26 million.

Still, the wallet held 31,337 ETH worth around $63.81 million, placing it as the firm’s largest holding. UNI was second, followed by AAVE at 98.896K, worth $11.13 million. These results showed the firm was impartial for both DeFi tokens.

The move has brought the firm’s USD-valued holdings of the two DeFi tokens closer together, reducing UNI’s position size. They probably saw it as weak on the price charts. However, the network’s activity showed a different pattern.

Uniswap vs. AAVE Crypto Price Predictions

Uniswap’s price has been falling since late December 2024, when it hit $20. The price action recovered a little in 2025 between May and mid-August. At that time, it bounced to the middle level at $12.

Right now, the price trades around $4. That’s a sharp fall from $20 in a period of only about a year and two months. However, its network activity was on an uptrend, contrary to price action.

Unichain expanded its revenue acquisition as the community voted on a proposal that could expand revenue by $27 million.

The initiative would support token burns as they are funded by revenue. That would, in turn, help in tightening supply. But how was this expansion happening?

The protocol was spreading fees to eight chains. The name included OP Mainnet (OP), Base, Arbitrum One (ARB), Celo Network (CELO), Solenium, X Layer, Worldchain, and Zora.

The protocol expanded through rising network activity. That growth likely prevented the price from crashing to zero, as often happens in extreme bear markets.

AAVE crypto was also going down. The altcoin has been making lower highs ever since hitting $390. The slanting trendline passed through the $125- $130 zone, where it served as dynamic resistance.

Recently, the AAVE price bounced back from the $95–$100 range, which was a short-term higher low. It is now trading around $120 after bouncing back from the support level at $100. This meant that the market was going up in the short term.

However, there was a descending resistance and strong overhead supply between $140 and $150. The zone set a price limit in December last year, but it was broken down early this February. If the AAVE price goes above $160, the bearish structure will be invalidated.

Conversely, a rejection near $125 could send the price back down to $100. So, bulls are starting to recover, but bears are still in charge of the higher time frame trend.

On the technical outlook, both Uniswap and AAVE were trending downward, even if there were hints of a rebound. The broader crypto market sentiment would dictate the direction of things, including Uniswap and AAVE crypto.