The Aave community has voted in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, a framework that redirects all revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO, consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. This move shifts the responsibility of funding Aave Labs' activities to the DAO, with a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation approved. The proposal resolves a controversy that emerged in December when delegates discovered that swap-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury.
The 'Aave Will Win' proposal decisively favors token holders, supplementing protocol revenue with application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. The proposal aims to prevent 'value leakage' by requiring service providers to build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and improved governance processes.
Aave V4's reinvestment feature and new 'Spokes' are expected to create additional revenue streams, with the team planning to invest in agentic AI infrastructure for developers building on Aave. 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 for fintech, banks, and asset managers.