The prolonged governance dispute within the Aave community has come to an end with the approval of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, a landmark decision that redirects all revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO and consolidates economic rights under the AAVE token. This move signifies a major shift, as the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities. The approved proposal includes a $25 million stablecoin grant and a 5,000 AAVE token allocation, valued at approximately $6.8 million, to Aave Labs.
The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, manages the Aave lending protocol and allows token holders to vote on key decisions such as upgrades, fees, and treasury use. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal aims to make Aave fully token-centric, with a single asset and model: the $AAVE token.
This decision resolves a controversy that began in December when it was discovered that swap-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury. The proposal decisively favors token holders, ensuring that protocol revenue, which exceeded $140 million in 2025, will be supplemented by application-layer revenue from various Aave products.
The application layer is a key area of focus, with ambitions to target mainstream users with a 'fintech-like experience' and generate additional revenue for the treasury. The proposal also takes a strong stance against 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave and adhere to measurable goals. Technical advancements, such as Aave V4's reinvestment feature and the introduction of 'Spokes,' will expand collateral options and create new revenue streams. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked across multiple chains, Aave is the largest lending protocol in DeFi, and the approved proposal positions it for further growth and scalability.