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Aave DAO Rejects Brand Transfer, Exposing Governance Rift

High abstentions alongside a founder’s token purchase disclosure triggered calls to clarify tokenholder alignment.

Overview

  • Snapshot tallied 55.29% against, 41.21% abstain, and 3.5% in favor on the brand-control ARFC, with a record 1.8 million AAVE voting power participating.
  • The proposal sought to place Aave’s domains, social accounts, and naming rights into a DAO-governed entity; with the failure, brand assets remain outside a DAO-controlled wrapper.
  • Process concerns mounted over a holiday fast-track and an abstain push from key delegates, while the listed author Ernesto Boado said the proposal was posted without his approval.
  • Founder Stani Kulechov disclosed a roughly $10–15 million AAVE purchase but said the tokens were not used in the vote, highlighted about $140 million in 2025 DAO revenue, and pledged clearer economic alignment.
  • Wintermute confirmed a vote against and flagged token–equity misalignment, as AAVE fell roughly 20% with reports of a large holder selling more than 230,000 tokens.