Bored Ghosts Developing (BGD), a key development contractor for the Aave DAO, announced it will not renew its contract in April. The firm, founded by a former Aave Labs executive, cited Labs’ “borderline outrageous” proposal to prioritize a newer protocol version, v4, over the current v3 system. The departure, described by a major delegate as “devastating,” highlights an ongoing governance dispute within the decentralized finance giant.
Bored Ghosts Developing said it will not seek renewal of its contract with the Aave DAO later this year. The company blamed Aave Labs for a proposal it called “borderline outrageous” to privilege a newer version of the protocol.
The Aave token fell more than 6% on the news. Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov lamented the departure, stating, “For four years, BGD has played an important role in Aave V3’s technical development.”
Marc Zeller, head of delegate Aave Chan Initiative, called the loss “devastating.” “Most of the revenue V3 generates today is driven by their code and innovations,” he wrote.
The dispute centers on a recent proposal from Aave Labs that would ratify v4 as the future foundation. This would involve pausing improvements to the current v3, which BGD labeled the “crown jewel” of Aave.
Aave Labs has stated there is “zero rush” to migrate users from v3. The company wrote that v3 will continue to be maintained until users migrate at their own pace.
BGD said the DAO’s organizational scenario has “started to change radically.” The firm argued that Aave Labs is pushing a pivot without sufficient consideration for existing contributors.
BGD’s current contract, worth approximately $2.5 million, ends on April 1. The firm said it would request a $200,000 retainer to help transition to a new service provider.
Kulechov stated that Labs would be willing to assume the maintenance work. “Aave V3, and every other part of the Aave protocol stack, will continue to operate as normal,” he wrote.
