BGD Labs, a core technical contributor to the decentralized finance protocol Aave, announced it will end its involvement with the project’s DAO on April 1. The firm cited an “asymmetric organizational scenario” and an “adversarial position” taken by the project toward its third version to promote the upcoming fourth. Aave founder Stani Kulechov expressed respect for the decision while community reactions highlighted concerns over DAO-level centralization.
BGD Labs, a core technical contributor to Aave, stated it will conclude its work with the project’s DAO on April 1 after four years. In a Friday forum post on Aave, the firm explained its departure.
BGD cited an “asymmetric organizational scenario” it said the DAO executed poorly. The contributor also stated Aave took an “adversarial position” of its v3 protocol to promote features in v4.
“While all previous points that BGD should just keep contributing on the v3 side exclusively, the situation created makes it nonsensical to us,” said BGD. The firm added it was not interested in operating under artificial constraints.
BGD said “nothing changes” until April 1 and it will continue contributing to v3, security, and asset onboarding. The firm proposed a two-month, $200,000 security retainer for community consideration after its departure.
“BGD Labs was created in early 2022 to build in the DeFi/web3 ecosystem,” stated the forum post. It noted the team had been almost exclusively focused on its contribution to Aave’s development.
Reactions from many Aave users were largely positive toward BGD, with concerns about losing a significant contributor. A user named JosueMpia said the situation felt bigger than one team leaving.
Some users accused Aave founder Stani Kulechov of being responsible for the departure. Kulechov responded to the post, praising BGD for its role.
“I respect BGD’s decision, though I am sad to see them go,” said Kulechov. “The DeFi ecosystem is better for having a team like BGD in it and I hope they continue to build and make contributions to the industry.”
