Aave founder calls for DAO governance reform, streamlining processes to promote execution

ChainCatcher message: Aave founder Stani Kulechov posted a call for reforms to DAO governance models. He pointed out that the way DAOs operate today is extremely difficult: the decision-making process is slowed down by forum discussions, temperature checks, and multiple rounds of voting. Meanwhile, DAOs can easily become politicized, with participants forming political alliances—ultimately resulting in “politicians” rather than builders winning.

Kulechov argues that governance should focus on areas that truly require collective participation, such as major protocol changes and treasury strategy; the rest should fall under the execution layer, which needs to be driven by leaders. He said that Aave needs to remain agile, streamlining governance processes to capture opportunities in the global lending market. Recently, the Aave community has experienced governance turmoil. Key contributors BGD Labs and ACI withdrew from the protocol one after another due to conflicts with Aave Labs, and the two sides disagree over the “Aave Will Win” proposal put forward by Aave Labs.