In a transfer branded “disgraceful” and a “hostile takeover attempt,” Aave Labs has unilaterally initiated a vote on the current governance debate round DAO possession of brand name property.
The vote got here hours after $38 million of Aave’s governance token was dumped on-chain, crashing AAVE’s worth by 10%.
Kicked off by longtime Aave contributor Ernesto Boado of BGD Labs final Tuesday, the continuing dialogue runs to over 100 feedback.
It started in response to the invention of Aave Labs’ seize of an current DAO income supply.
A Snapshot proposal was arrange by aavelabs.eth within the early hours of Monday (UTC) with voting set to start 24 hours later and conclude on December 26.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov introduced the vote through a put up on X.
The current DAO alignment proposal has been moved to Snapshot after intensive dialogue. We notice the group could be very excited by a path ahead and is able to decide.
Time for tokenholders to weigh in and vote.https://t.co/QwoPeglhmU
— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) December 22, 2025
Preventing soiled
Boado isn’t pleased; he says the transfer “breaks all types of trust of the community.”
The dialogue, he claims, was escalated to Snapshot with out his being consulted. Citing the truth that dialogue stays ongoing, he recommends tokenholders abstain from the vote.
Responding to criticism on X, Kulechov defended the transfer, saying 5 days of dialogue is typical earlier than transferring to Snapshot. He additionally factors to the present precedent of service suppliers escalating discussions offered by third events to a vote.
He concluded by saying, “people are tired of this discussion… see you at the polls, whatever the outcome will be.”
Kulechov beforehand made clear his plans to vote in opposition to the proposal, presumably utilizing the $10 million of Aave not too long ago purchased to exhibit “alignment,” on prime of his current holdings.
Marc Zeller, of the Aave Chan Initiative delegation, argued that the “typical” 5 days is inadequate for “a high-stakes, off-chain ownership question, especially during the holidays and with unresolved direct questions.”
He additionally stresses “many delegates and token holders are still asking for clear, concrete answers that have not been provided.”
“What started as a push for clarity” has changed into “a hostile takeover attempt by Labs,” he says.
“Ultimately, when the DAO is not respected and legitimate concerns from token holders are ignored, rational actors switch to the most efficient way to vote: with their bags.”
AAVE whale dumps luggage
Within the hours previous the Snapshot vote’s publication, an AAVE whale bought its whole stack.
In addition to staked ether (stETH) and wrapped bitcoin (WBTC), the whale unloaded $38 million of Aave’s governance token, triggering a ten% worth drop from $176 to $159.
The pockets nonetheless holds round $48 million in stETH and WBTC.
The sum is larger than the grand complete of Aave DAO’s token buyback programme, in keeping with TokenLogic’s dashboard. The DAO started buybacks in April and has spent $33 million on 143,415 tokens, now value $23 million.
Odds on a Polymarket wager on whether or not Aave’s token alignment proposal would move have yo-yo’d in current days.
After fluctuating between 60% and 70% for a lot of final week, odds dropped immediately on Saturday, to under 20%.
They rebounded over the course of Sunday earlier than dropping once more following initiation of the Snapshot vote, presently sitting at 30%.
