Governance Dispute in Aave Ecosystem: A Clash of Reports

A governance dispute within the Aave ecosystem has escalated following a report by Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative ACI . He published an audit of Aave Labs track record just hours after Aave Labs released its own contributions report. This clash comes as the Aave DAO prepares to vote on the Aave Will Win proposal, which seeks to allocate up to 51 million in new funding to Aave Labs.
Zeller s report poses three critical questions: what Aave Labs delivered, what it cost, and what the return was. He claims that Aave Labs has received approximately 86 million in total capitalization, including funds from the 2017 Ethlend ICO and various venture capital rounds. The report scrutinizes several product initiatives, particularly Horizon, a real-world asset lending market. Zeller argues that despite Horizon achieving significant total value locked TVL figures, its cumulative DAO revenue is only about 216,000 against reported costs exceeding 5 million.
In contrast, Aave Labs contributions report presents a different narrative. It highlights the protocol s history from the 2017 Ethlend ICO through various versions of Aave, crediting Aave Labs with key innovations such as pooled liquidity and Flash Loans. The report emphasizes that the technical foundation for today s revenue, including the GHO stablecoin launched in 2023, was established before most DAO service providers were onboarded.
As tokenholders consider the Aave Will Win proposal, the DAO faces two contrasting interpretations: one prioritizing capital allocation discipline and governance transparency, and the other highlighting foundational innovation and long-term research investment. The outcome of the upcoming vote is expected to significantly influence the funding relationship between the DAO and Aave Labs, as well as the strategic direction of Aave s next major protocol iteration.