Key Notes
The recent proposal failed with 55% “NO” and 41.21% “ABSTAIN” votes for the 1.8 million AAVE record participation.
Expected turnout was low given “conditions that objectively reduce participation.” Zeller, Aave Labs CEO Stani, and Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy participated in the debate, too.
The Aave DAO and community recently voted against a proposal to transfer brand ownership from Aave Labs to the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governing the leading DeFi protocol. Prominent leaders like Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani and Marc Zeller, founder of the Aavechan Initiative, commented on the outcome, noting that voting achieved a record turnout.
What Did Aave Users Vote Against?
According to on-chain data, Coinspeaker retrieved from Snapshot, the “[ARFC] $AAVE token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership” proposal closed on December 25. The Christmas vote saw a record 1.8 million AAVE users participate. 994,800 AAVE (55.29%) voted “NAY”, 741,600 AAVE (41.21%) chose to abstain, and only 63,000 (3.5%) voted in favor of the proposal.
“[ARFC] $AAVE token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership” proposal | Source: Snapshot
Essentially, the proposal suggested that AAVE token holders should seek to take control of Aave’s brand assets. In this case, domains, social media accounts, and naming rights would be placed under a DAO‑controlled structure to be defined later, with safeguards to prevent misuse or takeover. It called on whoever currently controls those assets to transfer them in both principle and practice, regardless of their identity.
Many investors criticized the proposal for being made “in a rush” during ongoing discussions about Aave Labs’ actions and communication strategy, close to popular international holidays. This governance dispute has now consolidated as one of the most significant for a DeFi protocol, offering long-term lessons and setting relevant precedents for DAO voting going forward.
Notably, the proposal stemmed from escalating tensions over revenue distribution and control of off-chain assets. The controversy ignited earlier in December when governance delegates discovered that Aave Labs’ integration of CoW Swap into the official app.aave.com frontend had redirected swap fees (estimated at up to $10 million annually) from the DAO treasury to a wallet controlled by Aave Labs.
Previously, the ParaSwap integration shared such revenues with the DAO, fueling accusations of “stealth privatization” and misalignment between the private development entity and token holders.
Aave-Related Leaderships Comment on Recent DAO Record Vote
As the vote wrapped up, Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov commented on it on X. He said it was “a productive discussion that’s essential for the long-term health of Aave.” In the post, Stani pledged commitment to making the economic alignment between Aave Labs and $AAVE token holders clearer.
Additionally, he expanded on his recently disclosed $15 million AAVE purchase, as Coinspeaker reported pre-holidays. He explained the amount was not used for this recent vote. “This is my life’s work,” Stani said, “I am putting my own capital behind my conviction.”
Stani was the leader behind this proposal and a “YES” advocate.
The recent DAO vote has wrapped up, and it has raised important questions about the relationship between Aave Labs and $AAVE token holders. This is a productive discussion that’s essential for the long-term health of Aave.
While it's been a bit hectic, debate and disagreement…
— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) December 26, 2025
Aavechan Initiative founder Marc “Billy” Zeller was one of the leading advocates for “ABSTAIN” votes in public discussions. He suggested that token holders abstain because the conditions were not ideal for making such an essential decision while discussions were still ongoing. He pointed out “a compressed timeline, a holiday period, and a debate that was still actively evolving.”
Yet, in an X article published just a few minutes before Stani’s post above, Zeller highlighted the “massive” turnout of 1.8 million AAVE used by voters, claiming “DeFi will win.”
“Despite an unfair timeline and every practical disadvantage stacked against the DAO, participation broke records, with 1,8M total voting power expressed. That is not a defeat for decentralization. It is the opposite of apathy, and that is exactly what a healthy DAO should look like,” he said.
— Marc ”七十 Billy” Zeller (@Marczeller) December 26, 2025
Another prominent figure who commented on this governance proposal was Wintermute’s co-founder and CEO, Evgeny Gaevoy, a disclosed AAVE investor. Gaevoy highlighted “a clear expectation mismatch between AAVE Labs and a significant number of AAVE token holders” in many areas.
Also, he disagreed with the forum proposal “as it stands now,” explaining it requires further elaboration to become feasible. Therefore, Wintermute and Evgeny Gaevoy voted and advocated for “NO,” the winning outcome.
“It makes no sense to commit to a course of action without knowing the specifics. It’s far from obvious how the entity owning the front end and brand would be governed, whether it would be for profit or not, and whether it would actually guarantee value accrual to token holders.”
Disclosures first (as should be customary). Wintermute (ventures) has been an investor in AAVE since 2022. We also have participated in governance and it is a decent part of our venture portfolio. I personally hold AAVE as well. Neither me personally, nor Wintermute have exposure…
— wishful_cynic (@EvgenyGaevoy) December 25, 2025
Interestingly, on the same day of this reported proposal being refused, another relevant Ethereum DeFi protocol, Uniswap, approved a long-awaited governance proposal. On Dec. 25, the DAO voted in favor of the UNIfication overhaul, approving 100 million UNI Burn and activating the fee switch.
