The Aave community has voted in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, a landmark decision that marks a significant shift in the protocol's revenue management. The proposal, deemed the most important in Aave's history by founder Stani Kulechov, redirects all revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO, consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. This move effectively makes the DAO responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation approved to support Aave Labs.
The Aave DAO, a community-run governance system, manages the Aave lending protocol, allowing token holders to vote on key decisions. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal resolves a controversy that emerged in December when delegates discovered that swap fees had been quietly redirected away from the community treasury. The proposal decisively favors token holders, supplementing protocol revenue with application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit.
With protocol revenue reaching $140 million in 2025 and expected to match that in 2026, the Aave community is poised for significant growth. The proposal also introduces a 'fintech-like experience' for mainstream users, with $1 million account protection per user and a card launching later that generates fees for the treasury. Aave's ambition lies in the application layer, with a hard line against 'value leakage' and a focus on building exclusively for Aave.
Service providers must meet measurable goals, and governance process improvements are planned to reduce friction. On the technical side, Aave V4's reinvestment feature and 'Spokes' expand collateral options and address DeFi liquidity demands. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked across multiple chains, Aave is the largest lending protocol in DeFi, and the $140 million annual revenue figure positions it alongside Uniswap and Lido as a leading protocol.
Kulechov's stated target is to scale Aave from $40 billion to $1 trillion, positioning it as a financial network that any fintech, bank, or asset manager can plug into.