A significant governance vote has concluded, with the Aave community approving the Aave Will Win proposal, as dubbed by founder Stani Kulechov. This landmark decision redirects 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO, consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token.
Consequently, the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with a $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, enabling token holders to vote on key decisions.
The Aave Will Win proposal resolves a controversy that emerged in December, when delegates discovered that swap-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury. This move decisively favors token holders, with protocol revenue supplemented by application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. Swaps on Aave.com and Aave Pro are generating an additional $10 to $20 million in revenue. The application layer is a key focus area, with Aave App targeting mainstream users and offering a fintech-like experience, including $1 million account protection per user and a card that generates fees for the treasury.
The proposal addresses value leakage by requiring service providers to build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and governance process improvements planned. Technically, Aave V4's reinvestment feature turns idle capital into yield-generating positions, creating a new revenue stream. New Spokes expand collateral options, addressing DeFi liquidity demand. The team plans to invest in agentic AI infrastructure for developers building on Aave.
With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave aims to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion, positioning itself as a financial network for fintech, banks, and asset managers.