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Aave Brand-Control Vote Divides Community as Token Sinks

Early tallies show the measure trailing, reflecting anxiety over fee flows and who controls Aave’s off‑chain assets.

Overview

  • A Snapshot vote on transferring Aave’s trademarks, domains, social accounts and other brand gateways to the DAO is live through Dec. 26, with roughly 58% of votes cast against and about a third abstaining.
  • At issue are allegations that a recent CoW Swap integration routed swap revenue to Aave Labs rather than the DAO treasury, with delegates estimating roughly $10 million per year, a characterization Aave Labs disputes as interface-level, voluntary revenue.
  • The proposal’s listed author, BGD Labs co-founder Ernesto Boado, publicly disavowed the submission and its timing, calling it rushed, while founder Stani Kulechov said the process follows governance norms and stated he will vote no.
  • AAVE has fallen about 18% over the past week as a large holder sold roughly 230,000 tokens—around $35–38 million—contributing to sharp intraday declines.
  • On-chain data shows Kulechov bought about 84,033 AAVE (~$12.6 million) during the selloff, even as the dispute is seen as a test case for tokenholder rights over off‑chain assets across major DeFi protocols.