Aave Labs has introduced a new governance proposal that will shape the next chapter of one of crypto’s largest lending platforms and send all revenue from Aave-branded products back to its community coffers.
The proposal, called “Aave Will Win,” asks Aave DAO to endorse a broader strategy built around its upcoming V4 upgrade. If adopted, the plan will make V4 the basis for Aave’s future development and formalize a structure where 100% of revenue from products built by Aave Labs flows directly to DAO.
The AAVE token is up around 2% on the news, although the broader crypto market is selling off sharply on Thursday.
Simply put, this means that any money generated from Aave-branded apps, institutional offerings or enterprise tools will go back into 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 onchain finance enters a crucial new phase, with fintechs and institutions moving into DeFi, this framework positions Aave to capture large growth markets and win over the next decade.”
The proposal comes against a backdrop of disagreement in the Aave community over control of the protocol’s brand and key assets. By late 2025, community members were sharply divided over whether the DAO or Aave Labs should control trademarks, domains, social accounts, and other branded assets, with critics arguing that concentrated control by Labs risked undermining the spirit of decentralization. This battle highlighted broader tensions over how much influence founding teams should retain when 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 heart of the plan is Aave V4, a major software upgrade that should make it easier to launch new markets and financial products on top of the protocol. Rather than requiring major changes to the core 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 central part of the framework is a shift in how revenue flows to the DAO. At the moment, Aave primarily has income from lending activities. Under the proposal, revenue from additional Aave Labs-built products, such as user interfaces and institutional services built around the protocol, would also be directed to the DAO coffers. The goal is to diversify income and align product development to a greater extent with token holder incentives.
The proposal also calls for a dedicated fund to be set up to hold and protect Aave’s brand and trademarks, as decentralized organizations cannot directly own intellectual property. More details on this structure will be introduced in a follow-up vote.
If approved, further proposals will outline 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 piece of global financial infrastructure governed by its DAO.
Read more: ‘Most important debate on token holder rights’: Aave is facing an identity crisis
