Aave’s $140M‑income 12 months is overshadowed by a failed model‑management vote, a $10M AAVE purchase, and a brutal governance rift hammering the token.
Abstract
- DAO income hit $140M this 12 months, exceeding the prior three years mixed, with AAVE holders controlling the funds.
- A model‑asset switch proposal failed with 55% in opposition to and 41% abstaining, deepening the rift between Aave Labs and the DAO.
- AAVE worth has dropped about 20% amid criticism of Kulechov’s $10M+ token purchase and issues over governance “assaults” and price routing.
Aave’s vacation governance drama has flipped into open confrontation, with founder Stani Kulechov now stressing that this 12 months’s DAO income hit roughly $140 million — greater than the earlier three years mixed — and insisting his multimillion-dollar AAVE (AAVE) buy was never used to sway the decisive brand-control vote that just failed.
AAVE Dao versus AAVE Labs continues
On Christmas week, while most desks in Paris and London ran skeleton crews and DeFi volumes thinned out, Aave’s governance channels turned into a full‑blown street fight over who actually controls the protocol’s name, domains and soft IP. The clash culminated in the rejection of an Aave Request for Comment (ARFC) to transfer core brand assets from Aave Labs to the DAO, with more than 55% of votes against and over 41% of participants simply refusing to take a side.
In a fresh statement on X, Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov tried to reset the narrative. “I am committed to clarifying the economic interests between Aave Labs and $AAVE token holders,” he wrote, conceding that “our explanations in this regard have not been sufficient, and we will strive to improve in the future.” He underscored what he called the missing context in the uproar: “The DAO has generated $140 million in revenue this year, surpassing the total revenue of the past three years, and $AAVE token holders have control over these funds.”
That reminder landed in a market that has been busy pricing in governance danger. Over the previous week, AAVE (AAVE) has dumped round 20%, sliding from the excessive $180s towards the mid‑$140s, with intraday ranges displaying sharp $5–$7 wicks as liquidity thins out above $155 and aggressive sellers preserve leaning on any bounce. One whale already moved greater than 230,000 AAVE — roughly $37 million on the time — in a single promote program, pushing worth down close to $162 and leaving a really apparent provide overhang on the each day chart that merchants are actually treating as de facto resistance.
On the coronary heart of the dispute sits Kulechov’s current buy of roughly $10–15 million price of AAVE tokens, executed into an order e book that was already jittery and closely skewed to perpetuals slightly than spot. Critics referred to as it a “governance assault,” arguing the timing successfully allowed the founder to bulk up his voting energy proper earlier than a contentious collection of votes on model management and income routing went to Snapshot. Kulechov pushed again arduous on that framing, stating bluntly that “these tokens weren’t used to vote on the current proposal; that was by no means my intention,” and including, “that is my lifelong profession, and I assist my beliefs with my very own funds.”
The ARFC on model asset switch, which might have moved Aave’s domains, emblems and social channels right into a DAO‑managed authorized wrapper, turned a lightning rod. Governance stewards and huge delegates blasted the vacation timing as a “hostile” transfer, noting the vote was pushed by means of a low‑participation window when many institutional token holders and protocol‑aligned market makers have been successfully offline. The ultimate tally — 994,800 votes in opposition to, simply 63,000 in favor and a large abstain bloc — uncovered a deep cut up between Aave Labs and the DAO over how briskly, and the way far, the protocol ought to push decentralization of off‑chain belongings.
Beneath the floor, that is additionally about money flows and interface economics, not simply logos and Twitter handles. Group members have accused current frontend modifications of diverting swap‑associated income away from the DAO, feeding a story that core improvement is quietly tightening its grip simply as actual‑world asset volumes and price revenue begin to scale. In opposition to that backdrop, Kulechov’s emphasis on the DAO’s $140 million in annual income feels much less like summary accounting and extra like a reminder that the on‑chain treasury — not the model wrapper — is the place the precise energy sits proper now.
Markets are buying and selling it with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Funding has flipped adverse on a number of AAVE perp pairs after Monday’s low was swept and failed to carry, with mid‑cap DeFi names catching a bid whereas AAVE itself stays pinned under prior native assist, a traditional “drawback youngster” setup that desks in Paris and Zug have seen 100 occasions in governance blow‑ups. Ignore the noise and you continue to get a blunt image: this rally dies the second AAVE slips cleanly below the $140–$142 pocket the place spot demand final confirmed up; under that, it’s pure exit liquidity till governance settles or some larger participant decides the low cost justifies stepping in.
Kulechov, for his half, is now promising a clearer roadmap. “Sooner or later, we are going to extra clearly articulate how the merchandise developed by Aave Labs create worth for the DAO and $AAVE token holders,” he stated, signaling that the following part of communication will give attention to tighter alignment between core improvement and tokenholder economics slightly than rushed votes throughout vacation buying and selling lulls. However nonetheless, after per week of accusations, failed proposals and a double‑digit drawdown, the burden of proof has shifted; Aave’s governance experiment could be very a lot dwell‑fireplace now, and the market is watching the following Snapshot like a hawk.
