Aave Labs, the protocol’s core development team, received a DAO-approved package that awards $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens under the “Aave Will Win” framework. The governance vote passed on April 5 with roughly 75% support. The stablecoin portion will be disbursed in installments over 12 months, while the 75,000 AAVE tokens will vest linearly across four years, per the governance dashboard.
The Aave Will Win framework is designed to accelerate protocol growth by shifting operational funding to the DAO while enabling Aave Labs to concentrate on product development and scaling. The stablecoins are intended to cover Aave Labs’ operational expenses, and the AAVE allocation is meant to incentivize developers and align long-term contributions with the protocol’s success. Additional growth and development grants tied to specific product launches and milestones are expected to be proposed separately under the same framework.
Aave remains one of the largest DeFi protocols, with total value locked above $25 billion according to DefiLlama. The framework represents a notable change in how funding and operations are organized across the ecosystem.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov called the proposal the most important in Aave’s history, framing it as the start of a multi-year effort to build and retain ownership of the brand, user base, and integrations. Under the new model, revenue generated by Aave products — including offerings such as Aave Pro — will flow to the DAO treasury rather than being retained by Aave Labs. The proposal also ratified Aave V4 as the protocol’s long-term technical foundation and proposed creation of a new foundation to steward the Aave brand. Aave Labs would narrow its focus to core Aave products to streamline operations and speed development.
The proposal attracted some dissent and questions from community members before the vote. Concerns centered on the size of the funding package, the governance implications of allocating 75,000 AAVE (which carries voting power), and how “revenue” is defined and routed. The framework had passed an earlier temperature check on March 1. Shortly after that, a major governance delegate, the Aave Chan Initiative, said it would wind down its DAO involvement, citing broader worries about governance standards and voting dynamics. Separately, a January proposal to transfer control of Aave’s brand assets and intellectual property to the DAO had failed, reflecting ongoing debate over long-term governance and stewardship.
With the vote now passed, the community and Aave Labs will move forward under the DAO-funded operating model and the other structural changes outlined in the Aave Will Win framework. Further proposals and grant allocations tied to specific development milestones are expected to follow as the framework is implemented.