Aave Founder Promises Changes After 52% Vote on ₱2.47 billion ($42.5 million) Labs Deal

Aave founder Stani Kulechov promised structural improvements after a controversial funding proposal passed Saturday evening with just 52% support.

The proposal would pay Aave Labs ₱1.46 billion ($25 million) for ongoing product development, plus ₱1.02 billion ($17.5 million) payable upon specific product launches. Aave Labs would also receive 75,000 Aave tokens worth roughly ₱524.04 million ($9 million) at Monday's prices. The deal came despite 42% of voters opposing it and accusations from key delegates that Kulechov used his token holdings to force the outcome.

Aave Chan Initiative Head Marc Zeller announced Monday his team would stop debating the proposal entirely. He previously called Aave Labs' growing influence a "slow-motion coup" and said the voting process lacked legitimacy. Zeller argued the dice were loaded and continuing negotiations would only validate a predetermined outcome. His withdrawal marks a sharp escalation in tensions over how Aave's ₱16.65 billion ($286 million) in lifetime revenue should be controlled—with over 75% of that total coming from v3, the protocol version Aave Labs now wants to replace.

Aave Labs posted a Sunday forum response acknowledging improvements were needed. The company defended the payment as necessary to fund development of v4, which it says will expand beyond v3's architectural limits. Security audits for the new version are underway, with a release expected later in 2026. Last week, Aave Labs relaxed its aggressive timeline for migrating users from v3 to v4 after community pushback.

Blockchain Capital General Partner Aleks Larsen said his firm couldn't vote in the snapshot poll because their custodian deprecated Snapshot support. He claimed the proposal would have won by a materially larger margin if institutional investors holding material Aave positions could have participated. Aave v3 currently holds $27 billion in user deposits.