Aave Governance Faces Tensions Over Revenue Model: What Does CoW Integration Entail?

In mid-December 2025, a critical debate emerged within the Aave community regarding how revenue streams from new integrations on the platform are allocated and monetized. The proposal to incorporate CoW Swap has raised fundamental questions about the relationship between the DAO’s objectives and those of Aave Labs.

The Focus of the Controversy: Resource Redistribution

According to reports from governance forum participants, the integration in question has caused a significant diversion of income. It is noted that approximately $200,000 weekly in fees are being directed toward a separately controlled entity, rather than directly benefiting the DAO treasury. This allocation mechanism has raised questions about transparency and incentive alignment within the ecosystem.

Marc Zeller, representative of the Aave Chan Initiative, expressed reservations, characterizing the structure as “worrying,” arguing that the scheme effectively privatizes around @E5@ 10% of the potential revenue that could have flowed to Aave. The estimate suggests a substantial financial impact on the protocol’s sustainability and reinvestment capacity.

Divergent Positions

Stani Kulechov, a central figure in Aave’s development, took a defensive stance, arguing that Aave Labs retains the legitimate prerogative to capitalize on the features of its front-end interface and the technological improvements it contributes. This perspective emphasizes the notion that lab innovations deserve economic recognition.

However, the community remains divided on whether this approach serves the collective interest of the DAO or if it disproportionately prioritizes corporate interests. The debate touches on broader issues: the viability of Aave Vaults, the Horizon structure, and liquidation mechanisms in v4.

Broader Implications

This episode reflects underlying tensions in the governance of decentralized protocols when corporate actors are intertwined with community structures. How Aave resolves this dilemma could set precedents for how other protocols handle similar conflicts of interest in future proposals.

The community continues to evaluate these distribution models, with participants closely monitoring each decision as the crypto ecosystem continues to mature its governance structures.