The AAVE community has just approved a landmark governance proposal, marking a new phase in the long-term development strategy of the market's largest DeFi lending protocol. According to the voting results announced on Sunday, the AAVE DAO officially approved a $25 million stablecoin funding package along with 75,000 AAVE Token for AAVE Labs , the core development unit led by founder Stani Kulechov .
The proposal, titled “AAVE Will Win Framework: Primary Funding Request,” received 522,780 votes in favor and 175,310 against, representing approximately 75% approval. This represents a significant improvement over the controversial poll in March, when the proposal only passed with just over 52% support and faced considerable criticism regarding the influence of wallet addresses allegedly linked to AAVE Labs. This official approval is therefore XEM as a step to bolster community confidence after months of disagreement over governance and revenue Chia .
The stablecoin funding will be allocated in stages from the DAO's Collector contract, including 5 million aEthLidoGHO immediately, followed by a cash flow of 5 million over six months and 15 million over 12 months. Simultaneously, 75,000 AAVE will be allocated from the ecosystem reserve fund over 48 months, doubling the vesting period compared to the initial proposal to ensure the development team's long-term commitment.
Not all stakeholders in the ecosystem agreed with this decision. The AAVE Chan Initiative – a governance service provider founded by Marc Zeller – voted against with 166,200 AAVE, becoming the largest dissenting vote. Previously, this organization had announced its intention to leave the DAO in July due to concerns about increasing governance control concentrated in AAVE Labs. Conversely, significant votes in favor came from wallet addresses believed to belong to ParaFi Capital , along with governance delegates such as Areta and Token Logic , demonstrating strong support from institutional investors and financial service providers for the DAO.
This vote only covers funding under the “AAVE Will Win” framework. Other growth grants, including payments based on product development milestones such as the AAVE App, AAVE Pro, or AAVE Card, will be addressed in separate governance proposals. On social media, Stani Kulechov called this “the most important proposal in AAVE history,” while also revealing a multi-year strategy focused on end-user products, integrating fintech through the AAVE Kit, and expanding global regulatory licensing to support users in converting fiat currency to DeFi.
Notably, Kulechov's message also directly targeted service providers who had left the ecosystem, emphasizing that the DAO would oppose "locking down providers" or developing products for its own benefit rather than the benefit of Token holders. He also declared that the era of paying to post governance proposals had ended, signaling a major shift in how the DAO operates.
The context of this vote is particularly tense given the departure of numerous technical partners. BGD Labs – a long-time technical contributor – ended its partnership in early April due to concerns about centralization. Shortly afterward, Chaos Labs also announced its withdrawal; co-founder Omer Goldberg stated that the $3 million budget for 2025 was insufficient to meet the approximately $8 million needed to simultaneously oversee new protocol versions.
