Catenaa, Saturday, February 28, 2026- BGD Labs said it will end its work with the Aave DAO on April 1, concluding nearly four years as a core technical contributor to the Aave platform amid rising governance tensions.
In a forum post Friday, BGD Labs said it would continue its current responsibilities through the end of its contract, including support for Aave v3, Umbrella, chain expansions, asset onboarding and security.
The firm plans to publish documentation and maintenance guidelines to assist other contributors during the transition.
BGD Labs has played a central role in building and maintaining Aave’s infrastructure since early 2022. It helped develop governance systems, operational procedures and security mechanisms supporting the protocol.
The company said Aave’s core systems are now stable and capable of operating without major structural changes.
The departure follows friction over the direction of future development. Aave Labs has proposed directing all protocol revenue to the DAO treasury while seeking funding for its own work and prioritizing the rollout of Aave v4.
The plan would gradually wind down new feature development on v3 within months of v4’s launch.
BGD Labs said the shift creates centralization risks, citing Aave Labs’ influence over branding, communications and voting power.
It also raised concerns about limited collaboration on v4 design.
Despite stepping away, BGD Labs proposed a two-month optional security retainer from April through June 2026.
The $200,000 arrangement would require DAO approval and would cover incident response for Aave v3 and related governance systems.
