If you’ve spent enough time in DeFi, you know this pattern well. It always starts small. A feature tweak here. A revenue change there. Then suddenly, the community is asking a much bigger question: who actually controls the protocol?
That’s exactly where Aave finds itself right now.
A new proposal inside the Aave DAO is gaining momentum, and it cuts straight to the heart of power, money, and control. The idea is simple but loaded. Hand ownership of Aave’s brand, web domains, social media accounts, and trademarks to the DAO itself, instead of leaving them with Aave Labs.
And yes, this is turning into a real governance fight.
Very powerful argument in favor of DAO control of brand and IP assets from the co-founder of Aave https://t.co/Zbu6ZaWQnA pic.twitter.com/8qGBRhzQOf
— PaperImperium (@ImperiumPaper) December 16, 2025
Why this proposal exists at all
The proposal was floated Tuesday by Ernesto Boado, co-founder of BGD Labs and a long-time Aave contributor. In less than a day, it racked up nearly 4,000 views and triggered heated discussion across the governance forum.
Boado’s concern is blunt. Community members increasingly believe that Aave’s brand is being used to generate private revenue, while the DAO, which governs the protocol, has little say and receives little benefit.
In DeFi terms, that’s a red flag.
The spark that lit the fire
This didn’t come out of nowhere.
Earlier this month, Aave Labs announced a new partnership with CoW Swap, integrating a token swap feature directly into the Aave website. On the surface, it looked harmless.
But there was a problem. The site already had a swap feature from another provider. And that earlier integration sent revenue directly to the DAO.
The new one doesn’t.
Instead, swap fees from the CoW Swap integration now flow to Aave Labs. That move triggered backlash from DAO members, led by EzR3aL, the protocol’s largest delegate, who accused Aave Labs and founder Stani Kulechov of trying to “privatize” revenue that had historically benefited token holders.
Aave Labs pushed back. The company said previous revenue was voluntary, not guaranteed, and argued that it needs a stable income stream to cover the cost of running the website, which it controls.
That explanation didn’t calm everyone down.
Read More: Island With New Rules
The deeper issue: brand control
Here’s the real tension. Aave is governed by a DAO, but its brand is not.
That’s not unique. Many DeFi protocols operate this way. Uniswap, for example, still has its trademarks controlled by Uniswap Labs. Others, like Lido, park brand assets inside nonprofit foundations that are obligated to follow DAO votes.
Boado argues that Aave should move in that direction.
His proposal calls for a token holder vote to decide whether Aave’s brand and naming rights should be transferred into a DAO-controlled legal structure. The goal is clarity. If the DAO governs the protocol, it should also govern how the brand is used and monetized.
Regulation has changed the calculus
For years, founders held onto trademarks partly out of fear. Handing legal assets to a DAO raised real regulatory risk.
That argument may be weakening.
With the current U.S. administration taking a lighter stance on crypto regulation, some community members believe the legal environment is now stable enough for DAOs to assume more formal ownership roles.
That view is gaining supporters fast.
Momentum is building
Several high-profile Aave community members have already voiced support, including Jordan Lazaro Gustave, Aave Labs’ former COO.
He called the proposal a “natural next step” in Aave’s decentralization journey, especially now that DeFi operates under far more regulatory clarity than in past cycles.
His point is hard to ignore. If decentralization means anything, it means the brand can’t be leveraged without DAO consent, and it definitely shouldn’t enrich one party at the expense of token holders.
What happens next
The proposal is still fresh. No vote has been scheduled yet. But in Aave governance, that’s usually just a matter of time when engagement hits this level.
If support continues to grow, the idea will move to a preliminary vote, and from there, things could get very real, very fast.
So far, Aave Labs has not publicly responded.
But one thing is clear. This isn’t just about a swap feature or a website. It’s about who truly owns Aave. And that question may shape how DeFi protocols handle power, branding, and money for years to come.
