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

Blockchain technology Aave DAO voted to hand Aave Labs $31.8 million in combined stablecoin and token funding on April 12, 2026, the first enforceable action taken under founder Stani Kulechov’s “Aave Will Win” framework. Key Takeaways: Aave DAO passed AIP 469 on April 12, 2026, granting Aave Labs $25M in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens.

The “Aave Will Win” framework directs 100% of protocol and product revenue to the DAO treasury, ending prior disputes. Stani Kulechov targets $1T+ TVL via Aave V4, consumer apps, and RWA expansion under the newly approved structure. Aave Votes Yes on $25M Stablecoin and 75,000 AAVE Token Grant for Aave Labs The proposal, AIP 469, cleared 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 bulk of dissent at approximately 166,000 tokens against. The approved grant packages $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.

According to defillama.com data, Aave currently holds $25.08 billion in total value locked (TVL), with annualized fees running at $549.16 million and annualized revenue at $73.4 million. The protocol carries $17.508 billion in outstanding borrowings and a treasury balance of $83.49 million. Annual operational expenses stand at $18.07 million.

The “Aave Will Win” framework originated in a January 2, 2026, governance forum post by Stani Kulechov, who argued the protocol had grown too insular and needed to expand into real-world assets, consumer products, and institutional finance. Kulechov set a target of $500 trillion in addressable assets. Aave‘s framework moved through a temperature check, a narrowly passed ARFC in March, and now this binding funding vote. A late-2025 dispute triggered much of the urgency.

Aave Labs had redirected swap fees collected via a Cowswap integration away from the DAO treasury, drawing community criticism over who controls brand-adjacent revenue. AIP 469 addresses that directly. Under the new model, 100% of revenue generated by Aave-branded products and the protocol itself flows to the DAO treasury. Aave Labs receives grants and operates exclusively on Aave-related work. Kulechov called the passage “the most important proposal in Aave’s history.” His announcement read: “If you own AAVE, you own not just the economic rights of the protocol, but the brand, the users, and the integrations.” 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.

Each product carries milestone-based grant structures totaling up to $17.5 million in future disbursements not included in this vote. Aave V4 sits at the center of the technical roadmap, featuring modular architecture, GHO stablecoin integrations, and a “Spokes” model for new collateral types. Aave Labs also absorbed operations from BGD Labs, whose technical contributor role ended on April 1,  » …

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