Aave Labs on Thursday proposed directing all revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO and naming Aave v4 as the protocol’s technical foundation to resolve a long-running control dispute. The plan appears in the governance forum as the formal proposal.
The protocol holds more than $26 billion in user deposits and is meant to be governed by token holders rather than by its creator or a single company. Decentralisation has been a core aim since launch.
Tensions rose after Aave Labs stopped sharing revenue from the Aave website in December, prompting complaints from delegates. Some members demanded the company give up the Aave brand, and one accused Labs of a “slow-motion coup.”
Under the proposal, Labs would share certain product revenue with the DAO and push the community to prioritise Aave v4. The DAO would also allocate $25 million to Labs for continued product work and authorize a foundation to protect trademarks.
Stani Kulechov described the plan as positioning Labs as a long-term contributor to the DAO. “The framework formalizes Aave Labs’ role as a long-term contributor to the Aave DAO under a token-centric model, with 100% of product revenue directed to the DAO,” he said. “As onchain finance enters a decisive new phase, with fintechs and institutions entering DeFi, this framework positions Aave to capture major growth markets and win over the next decade.”
Some delegates may welcome the revenue sharing, but doubts remain about sidelining Aave v3. Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative publicly criticised the proposal for insufficient consultation with delegates.
