Aave's 'Will Win' Gamble Squeaks By, DAO Considers V4 as Its New Golden Goose

Aave's "Will Win" framework proposal just barely escaped the Temp Check vote, scraping through the first formal governance hurdle with a 52.58% thumbs-up. The off-chain Snapshot vote saw a hefty 42% vote 'no' and 5.42% abstain, like people leaving the room during a family argument. The measure now stumbles into the Aave Request for Final Comment (ARFC) stage, where the terms might get a polish before any binding on-chain vote.

The framework essentially asks tokenholders to sign off on up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens for Aave Labs. In a classic "we'll pay you back, we swear" move, the organization promises to route 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products back to the DAO treasury. The razor-thin margin proves the governance crowd is more divided than a fork in the code, as the protocol debates its financial plumbing and long-term game plan.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov spun the Temp Check as a step toward a "fully token-centric model," adding that structural tweaks are coming based on community gripes. Critics had previously side-eyed the hefty funding package, especially the 75,000 AAVE tokens—which, let's be honest, aren't just for show; they're governance bullets. Others demanded clearer definitions and stronger disclosure standards, basically asking for the receipts.

Just before the vote, on Feb. 25, competing reports from Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) founder Marc Zeller and Aave Labs served up contrasting narratives on past funding and value creation, like two degen historians with different data sets. The ACI dropped a transparency report reviewing Aave Labs' historical funding, while Aave Labs gave its own highlight reel of building the protocol since 2017.

Under the proposed deal, 100% of gross product revenue earned by Aave Labs—after paying off direct partners and incentive schemes—would flow straight to the DAO treasury. The product list reads like a Web3 supermarket aisle: aave.com and its fees, the Aave App mobile application, Aave Card, Aave Pro, Aave Kit for enterprise integrations, Aave Horizon for real-world assets, and a proposed AAVE exchange-traded product. The DAO would also pocket revenue from the swap feature on aave.com, which is already churning out about $10 million a year.

The proposal also aims to officially crown Aave V4 as the protocol's main tech stack. While V3 is currently the cash cow, bringing in over $100 million annually, the plan is to put it out to pasture in "stable maintenance" once V4 is grown up. This transition is a three-phase playbook—active development, stable maintenance, and legacy support—ensuring V3 doesn't just get rug-pulled and users can still get their money out.

Aave Labs, the current legal owner of the Aave trademarks, suggested creating a Foundation to handle brand governance, because a DAO can't legally own anything—it's like a ghost trying to hold a deed. This proposed Foundation would license the brand to approved players and go after unauthorized users, all while staying in the DAO's lane.

The funding request is a multi-course meal: a primary grant of $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE. The stablecoin part is $5 million upfront and $20 million dripped out over a year, while the 75,000 AAVE tokens unlock linearly over 24 months. On top of that, there are milestone-based growth grants: $5 million each for launching the Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Card, and a cooler $2.5 million for the Aave Kit launch.

Aave Labs pointed out that by sending all product revenue to the treasury, it can't self-fund anymore—the engineering, legal battles, and biz dev ops it's been running since 2017 are now officially on the DAO's tab. It's the corporate equivalent of moving back in with your parents and expecting an allowance.