Aave Founder Proposes Revenue Sharing to Ease Community Tensions

Aave's founder just tossed a potential peace offering into the DeFi arena—a revenue-sharing model aimed at cooling simmering community tensions. It's a move that could reshape governance dynamics overnight.

The Core Proposal: Sharing the Wealth

The plan centers on redirecting a portion of protocol fees back to token holders. Think of it as a corporate dividend, but for a decentralized autonomous organization—where the 'shareholders' are the governance participants. It directly addresses growing murmurs about value accumulation versus distribution.

Why This Matters Now

Community friction isn't new in crypto, but it's becoming a critical bottleneck. Projects that fail to align incentives often see talent and capital bleed to competitors. This proposal isn't just about payments; it's a strategic play for long-term loyalty and network security. After all, a holder who profits from the protocol is less likely to stage a revolt.

The Fine Print & The Skeptic's View

Implementing this requires navigating complex tokenomics and smart contract upgrades. It also raises questions: Will this dilute the treasury's runway for development? Is it a genuine governance evolution or a short-term placation tactic? As one cynical fund manager might quip, 'It's easier to print governance tokens than to build sustainable value.'

The Bottom Line

If executed well, this could set a new standard for DeFi community engagement. If it stumbles, it risks being labeled another governance gimmick. The market's verdict will be written in the coming governance votes—and the price chart.

In brief

• Aave founder Stani Kulechov proposed sharing revenue earned outside Aave with token holders to address governance tensions.
• The proposal aims to align the interests of Aave Labs and AAVE holders while keeping the community engaged in governance.
• Aave finished 2025 with record growth, capturing 29% of total DeFi value locked.

Aligning Interests Between Labs and Token Holders

Kulechov explained that, in response to recent discussions within the community, Aave Labs plans to reward token holders with revenue generated outside the protocol. He stressed that aligning the goals of the company and AAVE holders remains a top priority and noted that a detailed proposal outlining the structure of the revenue distribution will be presented soon.

The debate over profit sharing grew louder when a token holder questioned why swap fees from the protocol’s new CoW Swap-powered interface were no longer directed to the DAO treasury, as they had been under the previous Paraswap system. Analysis shared by the individual on the governance platform showed that these swap fees are now accumulating in an address outside DAO control.

Guiding Aave’s Future: Strategy and Implementation

While Aave Labs built the first version of the Aave protocol, its ongoing maintenance and governance are now largely handled by the Aave DAO, which makes collaboration between the two essential for guiding the protocol’s future. Kulechov’s post outlined the following:

• Both Aave Labs and the DAO need to align on a plan to grow the protocol, adding support for additional assets and lending options.
• Independent teams should be encouraged to build on the permissionless Aave Protocol, allowing innovation while the protocol benefits from increased usage and revenue.
• Discussions around branding and intellectual property were also raised, with Kulechov indicating that these matters would be resolved in response to calls for Aave Labs to hand over IP rights to the DAO.

Aave’s Record-Breaking Growth in 2025

Aave finished 2025 with a string of notable milestones, setting a new record for DeFi dominance. The protocol now holds 29% of total DeFi value locked (TVL), establishing itself as the largest DeFi platform and surpassing 16 major U.S. banks in scale. With TVL reaching approximately $34.4 billion, it has also generated around $88.27 million in annualized revenue.

The platform’s native token has also seen strong performance, climbing more than 7% in the past 24 hours and trading at $161.47 at the time of reporting. These figures reflect growing adoption and confidence in Aave’s ecosystem, showing the protocol’s continued leadership in decentralized finance.

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