A months-long governance battle has come to an end with the Aave community voting in favor of a proposal that grants 100% of revenue from all Aave-branded products to the DAO, effectively consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. This move means the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation approved.
The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, manages the Aave lending protocol and allows token holders to vote on key decisions. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal has resolved a dispute that began when delegates discovered that swap-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury. The proposal decisively grants control of protocol revenue to token holders, with revenue supplemented by application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit.
The application layer is expected to drive growth, with Aave App targeting mainstream users and generating fees for the treasury. The proposal also takes a hard line against 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave and token holders. Technical improvements include Aave V4's reinvestment feature and the expansion of collateral options. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave is the largest lending protocol in DeFi, and the community is targeting significant growth, aiming to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion.