The Aave decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is approaching a high-stakes Snapshot vote on a roughly $50 million funding package for Aave Labs, the core development team. The vote, scheduled for Thursday, February 26, 2026, has become a proxy for a broader governance dispute over accountability, transparency, and revenue capture within the protocol.
The conflict intensified as Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), published a funding transparency review. His report applies a return-on-investment lens to historical grants, arguing that Aave Labs has received approximately $86 million in lifetime capitalization from sources including its 2017 ICO, venture funding, and past DAO payments. Zeller advocates for future funding to be linked to measurable revenue impact and clearer disclosure, and has raised process concerns, suggesting the vote should be unbundled to allow separate decisions on funding, revenue alignment, and the ratification of Aave V4.
In response, Aave Labs issued its own contributions report, positioning itself as the long-term builder responsible for designing and shipping Aave V1 through V3. The report highlights its role in developing critical, revenue-generating features like flash loans, the Safety Module, and Efficiency Mode, arguing that narrow accounting misses the operational work required to maintain a protocol used by millions.
The proposed "Aave Will Win" framework asks tokenholders to approve up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens. In exchange, Aave Labs would route 100% of product revenue to the DAO treasury. The vote bundles this funding with governance choices including revenue from aave.com and the ratification of Aave V4 as the technical foundation. Adding urgency to the debate, contributor BGD Labs has announced plans to formally end its DAO involvement on April 1.
The governance dispute has directly impacted market sentiment for the AAVE token. While the price hit an intraday high of $119.35, gains were curtailed, with the token trading around $116.60, up 2.8% over 24 hours. Analysts note that the outcome of the vote—whether it passes smoothly with conditions or leads to further dispute—will likely dictate short-term price volatility for AAVE.
