The prolonged governance dispute that began when Aave Labs diverted swap fees 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 important in Aave's history' by founder Stani Kulechov, 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 community-run decision-making body for the protocol, has effectively resolved the dispute by ensuring that protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, will be supplemented by application-layer revenue from various Aave products.
The 'Aave Will Win' proposal decisively favors token holders, putting an end to the controversy over who controls the protocol's most valuable assets. With this shift, Aave is set to become fully token-centric, with a focus on a single asset, the AAVE token. The proposal also takes a hard line against 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and improved governance processes. On the technical side, Aave V4's reinvestment feature and new 'Spokes' are expected to create additional revenue streams and expand collateral options.
With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave is poised to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion, positioning itself as a financial network that any fintech, bank, or asset manager can plug into.