Aave Labs Proposes Sending All Revenue to DAO

Catenaa, Thursday, February 18, 2026-Aave Labs has proposed directing 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products to the Aave DAO treasury, in exchange for a new funding framework to support its operations and future development, according to a governance “temperature check”.

Under the proposed “Aave Will Win Framework,” all revenue generated from Aave v3 and the upcoming v4 protocol, including swap fees, frontend income from aave.com, and future business lines such as the Aave Card and a potential AAVE ETF, would flow directly to the DAO.

Aave Labs also suggested creating a new Aave Foundation to manage trademarks and intellectual property.

The move follows months of tension between Aave Labs and DAO members over revenue control and brand ownership.

In December, Aave Labs redirected swap fees from the official interface to a company-controlled wallet, sparking backlash and a failed governance proposal that sought to seize the firm’s IP and fold it under DAO control.

Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov has since opened discussions around a new revenue-sharing and governance structure. The proposal comes amid a broader restructuring at Aave Labs, including divestitures of non-lending projects as the firm refocuses on decentralized finance.

A key pillar of the framework is the long-awaited launch of Aave v4, which the company says could unlock new revenue streams through a “hub and spoke” architecture allowing expansion into additional markets and use cases.

Aave v3 currently generates more than $100 million in annualized revenue.

In return for relinquishing revenue streams, Aave Labs is seeking funding from the DAO, including $25 million in stablecoins, $5 million upfront and $20 million streamed over a year, plus 75,000 AAVE tokens unlocked over two years.

Additional grants totaling up to $17.5 million were requested to fund development and marketing for new initiatives such as Aave App, Aave Pro, Aave Card and Aave Kit.

The proposal has already drawn criticism from influential DAO members, including Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative, who characterized the request as an excessive funding ask and raised concerns about governance process and transparency.

Aave Labs said annual budgets would require separate governance approvals, giving token holders oversight of spending and performance benchmarks.

The temperature check marks the beginning of what could become one of the largest experiments in DAO-controlled brand and revenue management in decentralized finance.