The Aave community has put an end to a months-long governance dispute by voting in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal. 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, effectively consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token.
As a result, the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with an initial $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation approved. 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-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury. This move decisively favors token holders, with protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, now being supplemented by application-layer revenue from various Aave products.
The proposal also takes a firm stance against 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave and token holders. Technical advancements, including Aave V4's reinvestment feature and the introduction of 'Spokes' to expand collateral options, are expected to generate additional revenue streams. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave is positioned as the largest lending protocol in DeFi, aiming to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion and become a financial network accessible to fintech, banks, and asset managers.