February 13, 2026 marked a pivotal moment for the Aave community and the DeFi lending sector’s governance landscape. Yesterday, Aave Labs formally submitted the "Aave Will Win Framework" proposal, which abandons years of income distribution precedent and pledges to allocate 100% of all revenue generated under the Aave brand directly to the Aave DAO treasury.
As of February 13, Gate’s latest market data shows AAVE trading at $119.38, down 6.45% over 24 hours. The index price fluctuated widely between $125 and $116. This volatility perfectly mirrors the market’s mixed sentiment: the grand narrative of V4 and the $50.7 million funding request are colliding with intense governance concerns.
A Radical Shift: From "Protocol Fees" to "Full Brand Revenue Submission"
The core breakthrough of this proposal lies not in technical parameters, but in a fundamental overhaul of the business model.
According to details published by Aave Labs on the governance forum, the 100% revenue submission isn’t limited to V3 or future V4 protocol fees—it encompasses the entire Aave brand ecosystem:
- On-chain protocol layer: All interest spreads and liquidation income from Aave V3 and the upcoming V4
- Front-end interaction layer: All front-end fees generated via the aave.com domain
- Off-chain and innovation layer: Aave Card debit card business, AAVE ETF-related business lines, and any future products incubated under the brand
Aave founder Stani Kulechov emphasized on X that this move expands the DAO’s income base from traditional protocol fees established by AIP-1 to include non-protocol and off-chain revenue streams. The AAVE token is no longer just a symbol capturing liquidation penalty value—it now represents a claim on the entire brand’s cash flow.
However, this "goodwill" comes with a price. Aave Labs simultaneously requested from the DAO:
- $25 million in stablecoins (primary grant) + $17.5 million in milestone-based grants
- 75,000 AAVE tokens (worth approximately $8.95 million at Gate’s real-time price)
- Five grants of $3 million each for development and promotion of Aave App, Aave Pro, and Aave Card
- $2.5 million for Aave Kit developer tools
Total funding requested amounts to roughly $50.7 million, representing 31.5% of the Aave DAO’s current treasury ($160.9 million), and 42% of its non-AAVE reserve assets ($100.6 million).
V4 as a "Technical Constitution," Not Just an Iteration
Another key resolution in the proposal is to establish Aave V4 as the protocol’s "unified, long-term technical foundation."
Unlike V3’s incremental improvements, V4’s architecture aims squarely at "trillion-dollar on-chain finance":
- Native RWA integration: Real-world asset collateral no longer requires complex wrapping layers
- Hub-and-Spoke liquidity model: Unified cross-chain liquidity pools to resolve fragmentation from multi-chain deployments
- Institutional-grade risk engine: Designed to meet compliance and capital efficiency needs of traditional fintech companies
Kulechov describes this architecture as "the on-chain pillar of global finance." Once V4 launches, Aave will evolve from a purely crypto-native lending protocol into foundational credit infrastructure bridging TradFi and DeFi.
But controversy followed. The proposal recommends gradually adjusting V3 parameters to encourage migration within 8–12 months after V4 goes live, and temporarily halting new feature development for V3.
Marc Zeller, founder of Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), strongly objected. He pointed out that V3 currently generates over $100 million in annual protocol revenue, making it DeFi’s most stable cash flow engine, while V4 is still undergoing audits and is far from mainnet launch. "Bundling a testnet version that hasn’t generated revenue with freezing a mature income source for a vote is an extremely risky governance move."
Governance Under Pressure: The Fate of 75,000 AAVE and Revenue Definition Rights
Beneath the surface of revenue handover lies deeper governance tension.
The transfer of 75,000 AAVE, which Zeller called "hidden dilution of governance power," amounts to 13.6% of the DAO’s current AAVE holdings (about 550,000 tokens). "Before accepting these tokens, the DAO must know how much voting power the recipient already controls. Without mandatory wallet disclosure, this is an asymmetric information cash-out."
Austin Barack, founder of Relayer Capital, argued, "Uncertainty over the proportion of AAVE token value has disappeared. With rational investment returning, we should expect price revaluation." Gate’s perpetual contract market data shows that despite price pressure, AAVE open interest remains above 550,000 contracts—a recent high—indicating intense long-short competition.
The bigger structural flaw lies in the definition of "100% revenue."
Zeller dissected the proposal and found that Aave Labs retains unilateral discretion to deduct from "revenue"—including partner splits, user subsidies, market rebates, and even converting some cash flows directly into user incentives—all decided solely by Labs, with no independent audit, no DAO pre-approval, and no deduction cap. "Without a verifiable definition, 100% is just a catchy slogan."
Compromise and Principles: The Community’s "Four-Step Governance Plan"
Faced with a one-time $50.7 million grant request, the community didn’t reject the direction outright, but proposed a rigorous path for revision.
ACI suggests implementing the following governance patches during the Temp Check phase:
- Split voting: Divide revenue alignment, V4 confirmation, foundation establishment, and funding requests into four separate proposals to test consensus on each
- Foundation independence: The new foundation holding all Aave trademarks and IP must be legally established before any fund transfer, with a board structure independent of any single service provider
- Mandatory wallet disclosure: Any entity receiving DAO funds or AAVE tokens must disclose all directly or indirectly controlled on-chain addresses
- Third-party revenue audit: An independent audit firm should define "revenue" standards, with deduction items subject to DAO approval caps
DeFi researcher Ignas commented, "Labs made significant concessions, and token holders should acknowledge that. But doubts remain about who truly controls the foundation, especially since those 75,000 tokens absolutely must not be used for voting."
Price and Sentiment: Gate Market Data Insights
On February 13, Gate spot order book showed AAVE buy orders concentrated between $118 and $120, with sell pressure above $125. The 24-hour amplitude reached 11.7%, and implied volatility is at a recent high.
Technically, the daily 20-day EMA ($125.06) acts as dynamic resistance, with RSI at 36—still above oversold territory. If the proposal’s split voting passes, AAVE could reclaim the $125 level; if governance deadlock persists, the market may retest support at $97.
Notably, Gate’s perpetual funding rate remains at a mildly positive 0.000286, indicating bulls have not exited en masse and are rolling positions while awaiting governance resolution.
Conclusion
This round of Aave disputes began in December 2025 when an independent delegate questioned revenue ownership. Two months later, Labs presented the 100% revenue submission framework. Marc Zeller concluded in his long post, "This is governance in action and a milestone victory for Aave DAO. But direction isn’t execution, and slogans aren’t systems."
V4 is set to be DeFi’s most significant upgrade in 2026. Yet, more important than code is how the DAO establishes a truly auditable, balanced, and sustainable governance paradigm through this contest. Every quote on Gate’s market is a vote for the evolution of that paradigm.
