The Aave community has put an end to a months-long dispute by voting in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, which redirects all revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO treasury. This move consolidates economic rights under the AAVE token and makes the DAO responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities. The proposal also includes a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation to Aave Labs.
The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, will now oversee the protocol's revenue and direction. The proposal resolves a controversy that began in December when it was discovered that swap fees had been quietly redirected away from the community treasury.
The 'Aave Will Win' proposal decisively favors token holders, ensuring that protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, will be supplemented by application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. The proposal also takes a hard line against 'value leakage,' requiring service providers to build exclusively for Aave and setting measurable goals for them.
With this move, Aave aims to become a fully token-centric platform, with a focus on scaling from $40 billion to $1 trillion and positioning itself as a financial network that can be integrated into any fintech, bank, or asset manager.