Aave DAO has approved a $25 million stablecoin grant and 75,000 AAVE tokens for Aave Labs through AIP 469, passed on April 12, 2026. The vote, with 522,780 AAVE in favor (74.89%) and 175,310 against, marks the first enforceable action under founder Stani Kulechov‘s “Aave Will Win” framework, which centralizes revenue control under the DAO treasury.
Grant Structure and Voting Details
The approved package includes $25 million in aEthLidoGHO, a yield-bearing stablecoin from the Aave V3 Ethereum Lido market, plus 75,000 AAVE tokens valued at roughly $6.8 million (based on $90–$91 per AAVE). The AAVE tokens vest linearly over 48 months without voting rights during that period. Stablecoin disbursement breaks down as $5 million immediately available, $5 million streamed over six months, and $15 million over 12 months. Any unspent funds must return to the treasury after 12 months. The recipient address is Aave Labs at 0x488c053F07391dC78b12Da7107eb22aF77A255a1.
The “Aave Will Win” Framework
Originating from a January 2, 2026, governance post by Kulechov, the framework addresses a late-2025 dispute where Aave Labs diverted swap fees from a Cowswap integration away from the DAO treasury. Under the new model, 100% of revenue from Aave-branded products and the protocol itself flows to the DAO treasury. Aave Labs now operates exclusively on grants tied to Aave-related work. Kulechov set an ambitious target of $1 trillion in total value locked (TVL) through Aave V4, consumer apps, and real-world asset (RWA) expansion, and quantified addressable assets at $500 trillion. He called the vote “the most important proposal in Aave’s history.” The framework passed a temperature check, a narrow ARFC vote in March, and now this binding funding vote.
Protocol Performance and Revenue Goals
According to DefiLlama, Aave currently holds $25.08 billion in TVL with annualized fees of $549.16 million and annualized revenue of $73.4 million. Outstanding borrowings stand at $17.508 billion, the treasury holds $83.49 million, and annual operational expenses total $18.07 million. The framework targets $10 million to $20 million in additional annual revenue from products including Aave App, Aave Pro, Aave Card, Aave Kit, and Horizon (the RWA vehicle). These products have separate milestone-based grants totaling up to $17.5 million (not included in this vote).
Technical Roadmap: Aave V4 and Beyond
Central to the plan is Aave V4, which features a modular hub-and-spoke architecture tailored for institutional borrowing against real-world assets, native GHO stablecoin integrations, and a “Spokes” model for new collateral types. Aave Labs has absorbed BGD Labs, whose technical contributor role ended on April 1, 2026. On the regulatory front, the framework calls for a MiCA CASP license in Ireland, a UK EMI license, and global policy advocacy. Kulechov frames these as moats, not checkboxes.
Market Reaction and Outlook
Following the vote’s execution, AAVE price surged 5% to 6% and remained over 3% higher as of 8:30 a.m. Eastern on April 13. The token traded at $93.79 (DefiLlama), with a market cap of $1.423 billion and $311.86 million in 24-hour volume. Approximately 19.88% of the market cap is staked. Kulechov posted on X: “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.” The DAO now has alignment; execution will determine whether Kulechov’s $1 trillion TVL ambition becomes reality.