Aave Will Win voting results questioned, founder: Removing related votes will reverse the outcome

The off-chain snapshot vote for the Aave proposal “Aave Will Win” funding concluded on Sunday, passing narrowly with 52.58%. The results were 622,300 votes in favor and 497,100 votes against. However, Aave founder Marc Zeller raised concerns almost immediately after the vote ended, alleging that approximately 233,000 tokens’ voting behavior was linked to Aave Labs.

Core Allegations and Financial Background of the Voting Controversy

(Source: Snapshot)

Zeller’s concerns are not unfounded. Just prior to this vote, on February 25, he published an audit report examining Aave Labs’ historical fund usage, questioning the approximately $86 million in investment returns from multiple funding rounds.

The main findings of the audit include:

• 2017 ICO: Raised $16.2 million
• Venture Capital Rounds: Raised $32.5 million
• Direct DAO Payments: $31.93 million
• Aave “Approved” Swap Fees: About $5,000

Disputed attribution of technical contributions: Zeller states that revenue directly generated by V3.0 was only $3.33 million, while subsequent upgrades carried out by DAO service providers generated up to $179 million.

On the same day, Aave Labs released a rebuttal report emphasizing their historical contributions to core innovations such as the liquidity pool model, flash loans, security modules, and V3 efficiency mode. They pointed out that these technologies were developed before the DAO service provider structure was established.

Proposal Details and the Logic of Centralizing Token Governance

The “Aave Will Win” proposal requests token holders to approve a funding plan based on a two-way exchange:

• Aave Labs’ Commitment: All revenue from their products—including aave.com token swaps, upcoming mobile app, Aave Card, Aave Pro, enterprise Aave Kit, and fees from the Aave Horizon RWA marketplace—will be fully directed into the DAO treasury.

• DAO’s Offer: Up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens to cover operational costs previously paid by Aave Labs through product revenue.

After the proposal was approved, Stani Kulechov posted on X: “The provisional review of the Aave Will Win proposal has been approved. This brings Aave Labs closer to a fully token-centric model, with 100% of product revenue going to $AAVE tokens.”

However, Zeller immediately pointed out that the 75,000 AAVE tokens provided by the DAO to Aave Labs would grant additional protocol governance rights to Aave Labs, further fueling concerns over centralization of power.

Broader Context of Governance Crisis: BGD Labs Declares Departure

This governance controversy is not an isolated incident. On February 20, BGD Labs, a key technical contributor to Aave for four years, officially announced they will not renew their contract with AaveDAO after April 1, 2026. BGD Labs played a critical role in building and maintaining Aave V3.

In their departure statement, BGD Labs cited several reasons: fundamental disagreements with Aave Labs’ centralized management approach, unresolved organizational structural issues, and dissatisfaction with Aave Labs’ promotion of V4—arguing that V4’s marketing exaggerated the supposed flaws of V3, ignoring V3’s dominant market position and strong performance record.

To address the structural issue of Aave Labs holding exclusive legal ownership of the Aave brand and trademarks, the “Aave Will Win” proposal framework also mentions establishing a foundation to hold the Aave trademarks and intellectual property on behalf of the DAO. Specific governance structures and trademark transfer details will be discussed in a separate proposal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the basis for Marc Zeller’s doubts about the legality of the vote?

Zeller points out that three address clusters associated with Aave Labs contributed about 233,000 tokens in favor, including 111,000 tokens entrusted by Aave co-founder Stani Kulechov. His argument is that these votes are linked to the direct beneficiaries (Aave Labs). Excluding these, the proposal would have failed with 387,000 votes in favor versus 497,100 against. However, the Aave governance protocol does not prohibit such delegated voting, so the controversy is essentially an ethical issue in governance design, not a violation of rules.

What are the next steps for the “Aave Will Win” proposal?

Currently, the proposal is in the ARFC (Aave Final Community Feedback) stage, where community members can suggest amendments and further discuss the proposal. Final approval requires an on-chain vote, which has higher legal binding and may differ from off-chain snapshot results.

What is the actual impact of BGD Labs leaving on Aave’s technical development?

BGD Labs is a core builder of Aave V3. Their departure means AaveDAO must find or cultivate new technical providers. In the short term, this raises concerns about ongoing maintenance and security audits; long-term, the departure of a major technical contributor due to governance disagreements signals potential issues with DAO governance health, possibly affecting community confidence in the protocol’s future development.