Aave Chan Initiative to Leave Aave DAO Amid Governance Rift
The Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), a prominent governance delegate and service provider in the Aave ecosystem, said it will not renew its engagement with the Aave DAO and plans to wind down operations over the next four months. The announcement follows an off-chain Snapshot vote showing 52.58% support for a funding package for Aave Labs, which now proceeds to the Aave Request for Final Comment (ARFC) stage before any binding on-chain decision.
In a statement on Tuesday, ACI founder Marc Zeller said the group will continue participating in governance and complete existing commitments, after which its infrastructure and responsibilities will be handed over to the DAO or successor providers. Zeller added that the initiative was created for Aave and will conclude as its obligations end.
ACI cited concerns about governance standards and voting dynamics during the proposal process as key factors in its decision, signaling a notable shift in Aave’s governance framework as the funding plan advances.
Aave’s governance transition
The announcement comes after a closely contested Temp Check on the Aave Will Win proposal, which seeks to allocate up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 Aave (AAVE) tokens to Aave Labs under a DAO-funded development model.
ACI had previously raised questions about the size of the funding package and the inclusion of AAVE tokens, which carry voting rights. On Feb. 25, ACI and Aave Labs issued competing reports offering different assessments of Aave Labs’ prior contributions ahead of the vote.
The Temp Check passed. The Snapshot vote closed on Sunday with 52.58% in favor, 42% against and 5.42% abstaining. Under Aave’s governance process, proposals progress through the ARFC stage and another off-chain vote before moving to a binding on-chain Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) vote.
According to DeFiLlama, Aave currently holds about $26.51 billion in total value locked (TVL), ranking among the largest decentralized finance protocols by deposits. Overall DeFi TVL is roughly $93 billion, placing Aave at close to one-third of the sector’s locked assets.
Governance concerns and voting claims
In its statement, ACI said the Temp Check outcome was “decided by Labs-linked addresses voting on their own budget,” referring to the funding request submitted by Aave Labs.
The group said there is no role for an independent service provider in a context where a major budget recipient holds undisclosed voting power and participates in decisions affecting its own funding.
ACI said it will file a direct-to-AIP proposal to cancel its GHO funding stream and transfer 120 days of payments to the treasury to complete its transition. It added that it intends to cut its AAVE vesting stream via LlamaPay following the proposal’s execution.
Aave Labs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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