A prolonged governance dispute within the Aave community has come to an end with the passing of the 'Aave Will Win' proposal, as termed by founder Stani Kulechov, who described it as the most significant proposal in the history of Aave. This proposal establishes a framework where 100% of the revenue generated from all Aave-branded products is redirected back to the DAO, consolidating economic rights under the AAVE token. Consequently, the DAO will now be responsible for funding the activities of Aave Labs, with the recent proposal approving a grant of $25 million in stablecoins and an allocation of 5,000 AAVE tokens, valued at approximately $6.8 million, to Aave Labs. The Aave DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, serves as the governance system overseeing the Aave lending protocol, enabling token holders to vote on key decisions such as upgrades, fees, and the utilization of the treasury.
The 'Aave Will Win' proposal marks a significant milestone, as it conclusively resolves the dispute in favor of token holders, ensuring that protocol revenue, which reached $140 million in 2025 and is projected to match this figure in 2026, will be supplemented by revenue from application-layer products including Aave Pro, Aave App, Horizon, and Aave Kit. The proposal also introduces measures to prevent 'value leakage,' ensuring that service providers build exclusively for Aave, with measurable goals and improved governance processes to reduce friction.
Technologically, Aave V4's reinvestment feature is set to generate additional revenue streams by converting idle capital in lending pools into yield-generating positions. Furthermore, the introduction of 'Spokes' aims to expand collateral options and address the demand side of DeFi liquidity, with plans to invest in AI infrastructure for developers building on Aave. As the largest lending protocol in DeFi, with approximately $25 billion in total value locked across multiple chains, Aave aims to scale from $40 billion to $1 trillion, positioning itself as a comprehensive financial network that any fintech, bank, or asset manager can integrate into.