The Aave community has voted in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, a landmark decision that marks the end of a months-long governance dispute. This proposal, deemed the most significant in Aave's history by founder Stani Kulechov, establishes a framework where 100% of revenue from all Aave-branded products is redirected 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 an approved $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation to support these endeavors. The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, manages the Aave lending protocol, allowing token holders to vote on key decisions such as upgrades, fees, and treasury use. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal resolves a controversy that emerged in December when it was discovered that swap fees had been quietly redirected away from the community treasury.
This decision decisively favors token holders, ensuring that protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, will be supplemented by application-layer revenue from various Aave products. The proposal also introduces measures to prevent 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave and adhere to measurable goals.
Furthermore, the Aave V4's reinvestment feature will generate additional revenue by turning idle capital in lending pools into yield-generating positions. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked across multiple chains, Aave is poised for significant growth, aiming to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion and establish itself as a comprehensive financial network.