AAVE Founder and DAO Debate Latest Timeline
December 11: DAO representative @DeFi_EzR3aL and Marc Zeller (Aave Chan Initiative Founder) publicly accused Aave Labs of unilaterally transferring front-end swap fees (estimated at $1-10M per year) from DAO to Labs by replacing ParaSwap with CoW Swap.
December 12-13: Stani Kulechov responded that the front-end is a product owned by Labs (not a core protocol), with revenue independent of the DAO; emphasized that Labs self-funded the development of the interface and purchased $10M worth of $AAVE to prove "alignment."
December 16: Former Aave CTO Ernesto Boado (co-founder of BGD Labs) submitted proposal ARFC “$AAVE token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership,” suggesting that brand assets (aave.com, social media, GitHub, etc.) be transferred to a legal entity controlled by the DAO, adding anti-capture mechanisms.
December 16-21: Intense forum discussions ensued, with DAO members criticizing Labs' control over key channels. Stani released a “master plan” roadmap, emphasizing V4, Horizon, and App, pushing for trillion-scale; DAO members (like Duo Nine) warned that “DAO has no leverage.”
December 22: Stani unilaterally moved the proposal to Snapshot voting (despite only discussing for 5 days), claiming it met governance frameworks. Ernesto publicly denied: did not agree to submission and considered the rushed vote “disgraceful.” Marc Zeller and others criticized “unprecedented interference” and voting during the holiday period (Christmas). Whales sold 230K $AAVE (approximately $38M), causing the token to drop over 10%.
December 22 (latest): The community continues to debate, with Polymarket voting probability at only 25%. Critics claim Stani is using his founder role to interfere with governance; supporters believe Labs needs to incentivize development.
December 11: DAO representative @DeFi_EzR3aL and Marc Zeller (Aave Chan Initiative Founder) publicly accused Aave Labs of unilaterally transferring front-end swap fees (estimated at $1-10M per year) from DAO to Labs by replacing ParaSwap with CoW Swap.
December 12-13: Stani Kulechov responded that the front-end is a product owned by Labs (not a core protocol), with revenue independent of the DAO; emphasized that Labs self-funded the development of the interface and purchased $10M worth of $AAVE to prove "alignment."
December 16: Former Aave CTO Ernesto Boado (co-founder of BGD Labs) submitted proposal ARFC “$AAVE token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership,” suggesting that brand assets (aave.com, social media, GitHub, etc.) be transferred to a legal entity controlled by the DAO, adding anti-capture mechanisms.
December 16-21: Intense forum discussions ensued, with DAO members criticizing Labs' control over key channels. Stani released a “master plan” roadmap, emphasizing V4, Horizon, and App, pushing for trillion-scale; DAO members (like Duo Nine) warned that “DAO has no leverage.”
December 22: Stani unilaterally moved the proposal to Snapshot voting (despite only discussing for 5 days), claiming it met governance frameworks. Ernesto publicly denied: did not agree to submission and considered the rushed vote “disgraceful.” Marc Zeller and others criticized “unprecedented interference” and voting during the holiday period (Christmas). Whales sold 230K $AAVE (approximately $38M), causing the token to drop over 10%.
December 22 (latest): The community continues to debate, with Polymarket voting probability at only 25%. Critics claim Stani is using his founder role to interfere with governance; supporters believe Labs needs to incentivize development.
