In the concluded vote on Aave DAO, criticism aimed at Aave Labs has so far failed. The DAO, which manages the protocol, rejected a proposal to request the transfer of certain “branded assets” to the company.
So, during the weeks-long debate around the popular DeFi protocol Aave, critics of Aave Labs lost an important vote.
The vote is seen as the culmination of tensions between Aave Labs, the company that developed the first version of the protocol, and Aave DAO, the cooperative structure that currently manages Aave. However, this balance may not last long. Marc Zeller, one of the DAO’s most influential figures, has hinted that a similar vote could take place again after the holiday season.
Aave offers peer-to-peer lending and borrowing capabilities across multiple blockchains, primarily Ethereum. According to DefiLlama data, the protocol is the largest decentralized finance application with over $33 billion in user deposits.
The controversy began at the beginning of the month. Aave Labs has decided not to transfer part of the revenue generated through app.aave.com, where the vast majority of users access the protocol, to the DAO. Although it was previously stated that these revenues were being directed to the DAO’s treasury, this move by the company was criticized as an attempt to “profit from the Aave brand at the expense of the DAO.” The fact that the brand underwent a visual overhaul this year with DAO funds further intensified the reaction.
This tension culminated in a proposal submitted by software engineer and Aave contributor Ernesto Boado. Boado requested that “brand assets” such as naming rights, social media accounts and the aave.com domain name be transferred to the DAO. The proposal became one of the 10 most commented on proposals in DAO history.
However, a new controversy arose on December 21 when Aave Labs put the proposal to a vote without consulting Boado. Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave and CEO of Aave Labs, argued that sufficient discussions had taken place and token holders should have been ready to vote. Critics, however, claimed that the timing, coinciding with the Christmas holidays, was deliberately aimed at limiting participation.
According to the final results, 55% of the votes were against the proposal. 41% abstained, while only 3.5% supported the proposal. After the vote, Kulechov acknowledged during the DAO forum that the economic alignment between Aave Labs and AAVE token holders needed to be clarified, and said that in the future it would be more clearly explained how the company’s products add value to the DAO.
*This does not constitute investment advice.