The prolonged governance dispute that began when Aave Labs diverted swap fees from the DAO treasury has come to an end, with the community voting in favor of the proposal. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal, deemed the most significant in Aave's history by founder Stani Kulechov, has been passed, establishing a framework that redirects 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO and consolidates economic rights under the AAVE token.
This shift implies that the DAO will now be responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities, with a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation approved for Aave Labs. The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, manages the Aave lending protocol, enabling token holders to vote on key decisions such as upgrades, fees, and treasury use.
The proposal resolves a controversy that arose in December when delegates discovered that the integration of CoWSwap into Aave's interface had quietly shifted swap-related fees away from the community treasury. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal decisively favors token holders, with protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, now being supplemented by application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. The proposal aims to prevent 'value leakage' by ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and governance process improvements planned to reduce friction. Aave V4's reinvestment feature is set to generate additional revenue, while new 'Spokes' will expand collateral options and address DeFi liquidity demand.
With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave is the largest lending protocol in DeFi, and the $140 million annual revenue figure positions it alongside Uniswap and Lido as one of the few protocols generating nine-figure income.