The Aave community has voted in favor of a proposal that redirects 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO, effectively consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. This move resolves a governance dispute that began when swap fees were redirected away from the DAO treasury. The proposal, deemed the most important in Aave's history, allocates $25 million in stablecoin grants and 5,000 AAVE tokens to Aave Labs, with the DAO now responsible for funding Aave Labs' activities. The 'Aave Will Win' proposal aims to make Aave fully token-centric, with a single asset and model.
The vote puts an end to a controversy that began in December when delegates discovered that swap-related fees had been quietly shifted away from the community treasury. The proposal supplements protocol revenue with application-layer revenue from Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit, and introduces measures to prevent 'value leakage.' Aave's founder, Stani Kulechov, has stated that the goal is to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion, positioning Aave as a financial network that can be utilized by fintech, banks, and asset managers.