Aave Labs Secures $25M Stablecoin Grant as DAO Formalizes Revenue Control Model

Aave DAO approved AIP 469 on April 12, 2026, clearing a funding and governance package that grants Aave Labs $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens, while adopting a new revenue-sharing framework aimed at ending prior disputes over control of protocol-adjacent income.

Voting results and approved grant terms

The proposal, AIP 469, passed with 522,780 AAVE tokens cast in favor, representing roughly 74.89% of participating votes. Opposition totaled 175,310 AAVE, with ACI.eth accounting for the majority of dissent at approximately 166,000 tokens against.

The approved grant includes $25 million in aEthLidoGHO, a yield-bearing stablecoin drawn from the Aave V3 Ethereum Lido market, alongside 75,000 AAVE tokens vesting linearly over 48 months. At prevailing prices near $90 to $91 per AAVE, the token portion carried an estimated value of $6.8 million. The recipient address is Aave Labs at 0x488c053F07391dC78b12Da7107eb22aF77A255a1.

Protocol and treasury context

DefiLlama data cited in the article shows Aave holds $25.08 billion in total value locked (TVL). Annualized fees are reported at $549.16 million, with annualized revenue at $73.4 million. The protocol has $17.508 billion in outstanding borrowings, a treasury balance of $83.49 million, and annual operational expenses of $18.07 million.

“Aave Will Win” framework: revenue flow to the DAO treasury

The article links AIP 469 to the “Aave Will Win” framework, introduced in a January 2, 2026 governance forum post by Stani Kulechov. The framework argues Aave had become too insular and calls for expansion into real-world assets, consumer products, and institutional finance, with a stated target of $500 trillion in addressable assets.

It also describes a governance path that included a temperature check, a narrowly passed ARFC in March, and then this binding funding vote.

A late-2025 dispute helped drive urgency. The article says Aave Labs redirected swap fees collected via a Cowswap integration away from the DAO treasury, prompting community criticism about who controls brand-adjacent revenue. Under the new model, the framework directs 100% of revenue generated by Aave-branded products and the protocol itself to the DAO treasury. Aave Labs receives grants and operates exclusively on Aave-related work.

Revenue targets and product roadmap

The framework targets added revenue streams of $10 million to $20 million annually from products including Aave App, Aave Pro, Aave Card, Aave Kit, and Horizon, the protocol’s RWA expansion vehicle. The article also notes that each product includes milestone-based grant structures totaling up to $17.5 million in future disbursements not included in the AIP 469 vote.

It places Aave V4 at the center of the technical roadmap, describing modular architecture, GHO stablecoin integrations, and a “Spokes” model for new collateral types. The article also states that Aave Labs absorbed operations from BGD Labs, whose technical contributor role ended on April 1, 2026.

Stablecoin disbursement schedule and token vesting conditions

The stablecoin disbursement structure is described as follows: $5 million available immediately, $5 million streamed over six months, and $15 million streamed over 12 months. Any unspent portion must return to the treasury after 12 months. The AAVE token allocation carries no voting rights during the vesting period.

Regulatory positioning and market reaction

The framework also includes regulatory positioning, calling for a MiCA CASP license in Ireland, a UK EMI license, and global policy advocacy. Kulechov frames these as “moats, not checkboxes.”

Following execution of the vote, the article reports Aave price rose 5% to 6%. As of 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on April 13, it was still up more than 3%. The token traded at $93.79 according to DefiLlama metrics, with a market cap of $1.423 billion and $311.86 million in 24-hour volume. The article also notes that approximately 19.88% of the market cap is staked.

Outlook

Whether the plan delivers on Kulechov’s $1 trillion TVL ambition is presented as dependent on execution. The article quotes Kulechov’s X post: “This is the direction we are committing to, a multi-year journey. The foundation is set. Now it’s time to build. Aave will win.”