Aave DAO approved a proposal to grant Aave Labs $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens under the Aave Will Win framework. The vote passed on Saturday with nearly 75% in favor. According to the governance dashboard, the stablecoin funding will be paid in installments over 12 months, while the AAVE token allocation will vest linearly over four years.
The approved Aave proposal changes how Aave Labs will operate inside the Aave DAO structure. Under the plan, the DAO will fund the core development team directly. In return, Aave Labs will focus on building and scaling Aave products. At the same time, the framework says revenue from products such as Aave Pro would go to the DAO treasury instead of staying with Aave Labs.
Other parts of the Aave Will Win framework still need separate governance proposals. These include growth and development grants tied to specific launches and milestones. So, this vote covers the main funding package, but not every part of the broader plan.
Aave DAO funding changes the Aave Labs model
This Aave DAO vote marks a clear shift in how Aave Labs will be funded. Before this, Aave Labs worked as the core development team behind the DeFi protocol. Now, the DAO will take a more direct role in supporting operations through treasury funds.
The proposal also seeks to ratify Aave V4 as the long term technical base of the protocol. In addition, it outlines plans for a new foundation that would help manage the Aave brand. At the same time, Aave Labs would focus only on Aave related products.
That structure gives the Aave DAO more control over funding and product revenue. It also ties the future of Aave Labs more closely to the DAO treasury and governance system. As a result, the approved Aave proposal is not just about money. It also affects technical direction, product focus, and brand management.
Aave Will Win gets strong backing from Stani Kulechov
After the vote passed, Stani Kulechov described the proposal as the most important one in Aave’s history. In a post on X, the Aave founder said the Aave Will Win framework had passed with a landslide.
He wrote,
“If you own AAVE, you own not just the economic rights of the protocol, but the brand, the users, and the integrations.”
He also said,
“This is the direction we are committing to, a multi-year journey. The foundation is set. Now it’s time to build. Aave will win.”
Those comments show how Stani Kulechov views the role of the AAVE token inside the protocol. In this framework, Aave governance is not limited to treasury votes. Instead, it also connects tokenholders to the brand, product direction, and ecosystem growth of the DeFi protocol.
Aave governance debate appeared before the vote
Although the Aave DAO proposal passed, it faced concerns before the final vote. Some community members questioned the size of the package. In particular, they focused on the 75,000 AAVE token allocation because those tokens also carry governance power.
Other members raised questions about how revenue would be defined under the new model. Since revenue from Aave products would move to the DAO treasury, some delegates wanted more clarity on what counts as revenue and how that process would work in practice.
The debate had already started weeks earlier. The Aave Will Win framework passed a temperature check on March 1. Soon after that, a major governance delegate, the Aave Chan Initiative, said it would wind down its involvement with the DAO. The group cited concerns about governance standards and voting dynamics during the proposal process.
Aave proposal follows earlier DAO disputes
This new Aave proposal also came after another governance debate earlier this year. In January, a separate proposal to transfer control of Aave’s brand assets and intellectual property to the DAO failed. That result started a wider discussion inside the community about long term control, governance structure, and the direction of the protocol.
The latest vote returns to many of those same issues. However, this time the scope is broader. The approved plan covers Aave Labs funding, treasury revenue, product development, and future oversight of the brand. Because of that, the decision carries both financial and governance weight.
Aave remains one of the largest DeFi projects in the market. According to DeFiLlama, the DeFi protocol has more than $25 billion in total value locked. That scale helps explain why the Aave DAO vote drew attention across the wider DeFi sector.
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Tatevik Avetisyan is an editor at Kriptoworld who covers emerging crypto trends, blockchain innovation, and altcoin developments. She is passionate about breaking down complex stories for a global audience and making digital finance more accessible.
📅 Published: April 13, 2026 • 🕓 Last updated: April 13, 2026
