In a significant development, the Aave community has voted in favor of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, a framework that redirects all revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO, effectively consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. This move resolves a contentious issue that began when swap fees were redirected away from the DAO treasury.
The proposal, deemed the most important in Aave's history by founder Stani Kulechov, has been approved alongside a $25 million stablecoin grant and 5,000 AAVE token allocation to Aave Labs. The Aave DAO, a community-run decision-making body, will now oversee the protocol's revenue and funding for Aave Labs' activities. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal aims to make Aave fully token-centric, with a single asset and model.
It addresses the controversy surrounding the integration of CoWSwap into Aave's interface, which had quietly shifted swap-related fees away from the community treasury. With this proposal, protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025, will be supplemented by application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. The application layer is expected to drive growth, with Aave App targeting mainstream users and generating fees for the treasury. The proposal also takes a hard line against 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave and do not redirect revenue away from token holders.
Technical developments, including Aave V4's reinvestment feature and new 'Spokes,' will expand collateral options and create additional revenue streams. With roughly $25 billion in total value locked, Aave is poised for significant growth, aiming to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion and establish itself as a financial network for fintech, banks, and asset managers.