Aave governance "raid" vote ignites community crisis: is it a necessary decision or the end of trust?

A vote concerning the control of brand assets was unilaterally submitted by Aave Labs to the Snapshot platform, with voting officially starting on December 23. The original author of the proposal, former Aave CTO Ernesto Boado, expressed strong outrage, stating that this action “violates all trust principles between the community.”

The controversy quickly reflected in the market. Over the past weekend, the price of AAVE token plummeted by about 15%, becoming one of the largest declining assets among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Meanwhile, Gate platform data shows that as of December 23, the spot price of AAVE/USDT is reported at $153.3, with a 24-hour decline of 4.5%.

01 Origin of the Controversy: Governance Rift from Cost Allocation to Brand Ownership

The recent tensions within the Aave community did not arise overnight. The seeds of controversy were sown weeks ago, centering around the issue of income distribution after Aave Labs integrated CoW Swap into the application front end.

According to estimates from community members, this integration, which has not been explicitly approved by the DAO, may cause approximately $200,000 in fees to flow from the DAO treasury to a private address of Aave Labs each week, and has been accused of “invisible privatization.”

In response to the growing skepticism from the community, BGD Labs co-founder Ernesto Boado submitted a proposal on December 16 titled “ARFC $AAVE Token Alignment Phase 1: Ownership”.

The core demand of this proposal is to explicitly transfer the legal ownership and control of Aave brand assets to AAVE token holders. These assets include domain names, social media accounts, naming rights, and GitHub organizations, which are currently managed by contributors such as Aave Labs.

02 “Raid Voting”: Controversies in Procedures and the Collapse of Community Trust

As the community was engaged in heated discussions about the details of the proposal, a dramatic turn of events occurred on December 22. Aave Labs unilaterally created the voting page for the proposal on the Snapshot platform and announced that voting would officially open on December 23 and continue until December 26.

This move is generally seen as a “hasty escalation” and a “procedural raid”.

The original author of the proposal, Ernesto Boado, reacted strongly, stating on social media that Aave Labs hastily submitted a proposal for voting that was still in active discussion without notifying him. He emphasized that he would never have approved it if his opinion had been sought. Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, described this move as an attempt at a hostile takeover initiated by the labs.

The focus of the controversy is not only on the procedure but also on the timing. The vote was scheduled during the Christmas holiday, and community members pointed out that this could lead to a significant decrease in attention and participation, affecting the representativeness and legitimacy of the vote.

03 Market Reaction: Token Price Volatility and Whale Movements

Governance disputes were immediately transmitted to the market, triggering significant asset sell-offs. According to a report from the Nasdaq website, AAVE's price plummeted about 15% over the weekend, significantly underperforming the overall cryptocurrency market.

At the same time, on-chain data captured the abnormal movements of large holders. On December 22, a giant AAVE whale address sold off its entire holding of 230,350 AAVE in batches, exchanging them for stETH and WBTC. This move resulted in an estimated loss of about $13.45 million for that address, and it was interpreted by the market as large holders avoiding the risks of governance uncertainty.

Market confidence is showing divergence. On one hand, there are large whales reducing their holdings, while on the other hand, founder Stani Kulechov has recently increased his holdings of AAVE tokens worth $10 million through the open market, attempting to demonstrate the alignment of interests with the community.

As of December 23, the data shows that the circulating supply of AAVE is approximately 15.19 million tokens. Investors can closely monitor the price changes of the AAVE/USDT trading pair on mainstream trading platforms like Gate to grasp the latest trends in market sentiment.

04 Positions of All Parties: Founder's Defense and Different Voices from the Community

In response to the tide of criticism, Aave founder Stani Kulechov made an official statement. He argued on social media that the vote was “completely legal and in line with the governance framework.”

He explained that the proposal had undergone five days of thorough discussion, and advancing to the voting stage is to “clarify the next step”, and that “voting is the ultimate governance approach to solving the problem.”

However, important voices in the community, represented by the Aave Chan Initiative, do not buy into this. Marc Zeller sharply pointed out that the actions of Aave Labs constitute an upgrade carried out without resolving discussions, reaching a clear consensus, and without the consent of the original author.

He specifically mentioned that a group of new authorized representatives with considerable voting power has recently emerged, and combined with the low participation during the holiday period, it deepened the community's negative perception that this vote is “optimized for pursuing specific outcomes rather than legitimacy”.

05 The Stable Platform: Gate's Role and Opportunities in Volatility

When the market fluctuates due to a governance crisis in a single project, a platform with good depth, sufficient liquidity, and safety and stability becomes particularly important. Gate, as a leading global cryptocurrency trading platform, provides users with such an environment.

According to its 2025 annual review, Gate the number of registered users globally has approached 50 million, with spot trading volume ranking among the top two in the world, and derivatives trading volume entering the top three globally. This scale and depth ensure that users can trade various assets smoothly under different market conditions, including AAVE.

For traders interested in the governance progress of Aave, Gate not only provides real-time AAVE/USDT spot and perpetual contract trading but also integrates the latest market information. The platform supports trading of over 4,100 cryptocurrencies and has pioneered 100% reserve proof, laying the foundation for security and trust.

In addition, Gate recently launched the “Perp DEX Year-End Trading New Journey” event, which has set up a prize pool of 20,000 USDT to encourage users to trade and interact with products such as perpetual contracts.

Future Outlook

When Aave founder Stani Kulechov insisted on social media that “voting is the ultimate way of governance,” AAVE holders were preparing to make choices on Snapshot. Regardless of the outcome, this hasty vote has already plunged like a giant stone into the deep lake of DeFi.

The market's response is clear and brutal: AAVE's market capitalization has evaporated by nearly 15% amid controversy. The community is questioning whether the golden standard of DeFi governance is sliding from transparent collective decision-making to a “compliance raid” controlled by the core team.