Aave Labs has proposed directing 100% of revenue from its products to the Aave DAO, but requested $50 million in funding in return. The DAO’s lead critic has slammed the plan as a revenue “extraction,” casting doubt on a recent governance ceasefire and potentially impacting the AAVE token’s price.
Aave Labs has released a new framework pledging to direct all revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO. According to the proposal, this includes income from Aave.com, a mobile app, and a planned tokenization platform called Aave Horizon.
Aave Labs founder Stani Kulechov stated, “The framework formalizes Aave Labs’ role as a long-term contributor to the Aave DAO under a token-centric model.” The company argues this move will help Aave capture growth as decentralized and traditional finance merge.
In exchange, the service provider has asked the DAO for $50 million to fund development. It contends this funding is necessary because the revenue streams it would use are now being directed to the DAO.
The proposal has been met with immediate criticism from within the DAO. A leading delegate, Marc Zeller, retorted on the governance forum, “At this point, the fox controls the henhouse, and the incentive is clearly to maximize extraction.”
Zeller further asked for an audit of Aave Labs’ income to verify the “100% revenue” commitment. This friction tests a January ceasefire between the entities after a prior dispute over revenue control.
That earlier governance spat in late 2025 caused AAVE’s price to drop from $200 to nearly $140. The token saw a 7% increase following the latest proposal announcement, but analysts warn a renewed crisis could push it lower.
