Stani Kulechov has moved to reset the conversation inside the Aave community after a contentious governance vote rejected a proposal to transfer control of the protocol’s brand assets and intellectual property to its decentralized autonomous organization.
Key Takeaways:
- Aave’s founder says the protocol must move beyond DeFi lending to keep growing.
- Aave Labs plans to share non-protocol revenue with AAVE holders and revisit IP control.
- Governance tensions persist over fees and influence despite the SEC closing its probe.
The failed vote reignited debate over Aave’s long-term direction and how value should be shared between tokenholders and core contributors.
Addressing those concerns in a post on Aave’s governance forum on Friday, Kulechov said the protocol faces a strategic inflection point as growth in decentralized finance lending alone may not be enough to sustain its next phase.
Aave Founder Says DeFi Is at a Crossroads
Kulechov argued that Aave should expand beyond its core DeFi lending business into areas such as real-world assets, institutional credit and consumer-facing financial products.
Without that broader push, he warned, DeFi risks stalling as competition intensifies and market conditions shift.
He described the ecosystem as being “at a crossroads,” urging the community to think beyond near-term governance disputes.
A key element of the roadmap is a plan by Aave Labs to distribute non-protocol revenue to holders of the AAVE token.
The move would mark a shift in how the token captures value, extending its role beyond governance voting.
Kulechov also said a revised proposal addressing intellectual property and brand rights will be brought forward, following strong resistance to the initial plan.
Higher. https://t.co/1NhV3xta6D
— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) January 1, 2026
The strategy pitch appears aimed at unifying a community that has grown divided over questions of control and revenue ownership.
Kulechov singled out real-world assets as a major growth avenue, citing estimates that put the value of global financial assets at roughly $500 trillion, a pool he believes on-chain finance can increasingly tap.
Aave remains one of the largest DeFi protocols by scale. Industry data showed the platform’s total value locked surpassed $45 billion in October, underscoring its influence even as the broader sector grapples with slower growth and regulatory uncertainty.
Aave Governance Dispute Centers on Swap Fees and Revenue Control
The governance dispute itself centered on fees generated by token swaps routed through services such as CoW Swap, which allow users to trade directly from Aave.
Some community members argued those revenues should accrue to the DAO, while others favored keeping them under the control of Aave Labs to fund development.
Tensions were heightened by Kulechov’s recent purchase of roughly $15 million worth of AAVE tokens.
Critics suggested the move was intended to sway the vote, a claim Kulechov rejected, saying the purchase reflected personal conviction rather than an attempt to influence governance.
Last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission formally concluded its multi-year investigation into the Aave Protocol without recommending any enforcement action.
The action ends nearly four years of regulatory uncertainty surrounding one of decentralized finance’s most widely used lending platforms.
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