The prolonged governance dispute that began when Aave Labs redirected swap fees away from the DAO treasury has come to an end, with the community voting in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal. This proposal, deemed the most significant in Aave's history, establishes a framework that redirects 100% of revenue from all Aave-branded products back to the DAO, consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. As a result, the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with the proposal approving a $25 million stablecoin grant and a 5,000 AAVE token allocation to Aave Labs. The Aave DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, serves as the community-run decision-making body for the protocol, allowing token holders to vote on key decisions.
The 'Aave Will Win' proposal marks a decisive victory for token holders, with protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, now being supplemented by application-layer revenue from various Aave products. The proposal aims to prevent 'value leakage' by ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and improved governance processes.
The technical roadmap includes the implementation of Aave V4's reinvestment feature, the introduction of 'Spokes' to expand collateral options, and investments in agentic AI infrastructure for developers. With approximately $25 billion in total value locked across multiple chains, Aave is poised for significant growth, with the target of scaling from $40 billion to $1 trillion and establishing itself as a comprehensive financial network.