Aave Labs has introduced a new governance proposal that would shape the next chapter of one of the largest crypto lending platforms and return all revenue from Aave-branded products to its community treasury.
The proposal, called “Aave Will Win,” asks the Aave DAO to approve a broader strategy built around its upcoming V4 upgrade. If adopted, the plan would make V4 the basis for Aave’s future development and formalize a structure in which 100% of revenue from products built by Aave Labs would go directly to the DAO.
The AAVE token gained around 2% on the news even as the broader crypto market sells off heavily on Thursday.
Simply put, this means that any money generated from Aave-branded apps, institutional offerings, or enterprise tools would go back to the community-controlled treasury rather than the development company itself.
“The framework formalizes Aave Labs’ role as a long-term contributor to the Aave DAO under a token-centric model, with 100% of product revenue directed to the DAO,” said Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave Labs, in a press release shared with CoinDesk. “As on-chain finance enters a decisive new phase, with fintechs and institutions entering DeFi, this framework allows Aave to capture major growth markets and win over the next decade.”
The proposal comes amid discord within the Aave community over control of the protocol’s brand and key assets. By late 2025, community members became sharply divided over whether the DAO or Aave Labs should control brands, domains, social accounts, and other branded assets, with critics arguing that the Labs’ concentrated control risked undermining the spirit of decentralization. This fight has highlighted broader tensions over how much influence founding teams should retain once a protocol becomes decentralized.
Aave is already one of the largest decentralized lending protocols in crypto, allowing users to borrow and lend digital assets without relying on traditional banks. The new proposal is designed to help the protocol compete as more fintech companies and financial institutions explore blockchain-based products.
At the center of the plan is Aave V4, a major software upgrade intended to facilitate the launch of new financial markets and products in addition to the protocol. Rather than requiring major changes to the base system every time something new is introduced, V4 is designed to make expansion faster and more flexible while maintaining security.
The proposal also introduces the idea of launching separate markets with different risk and revenue structures. This could allow Aave to support specialized use cases, including institutional participation, without affecting the broader protocol.
A key part of the framework is a change in how revenue is channeled into the DAO. Currently, Aave primarily earns its revenue from its lending activities. Under the proposal, revenue from additional products created by Aave Labs, such as user interfaces and institutional services built around the protocol, would also be directed to the DAO treasury. The goal is to diversify revenue and more closely align product development with token holder incentives.
The proposal further calls for the creation of a dedicated foundation to hold and protect Aave’s brand and trademarks, since decentralized organizations cannot directly own intellectual property. Further details on this structure will be presented in a follow-up vote.
If approved, additional proposals will explain how V4 will be activated and how funding will be structured. Overall, the framework signals Aave’s ambition to evolve from a leading DeFi lending protocol to a broader global financial infrastructure governed by its DAO.
Read more: “Most important debate over token holder rights”: Aave faces an identity crisis
