BlockBeats News, February 25 — Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave ecosystem contribution organization ACI, released an open report revealing that since 2017, Aave Labs has received approximately $86 million in capital support, including ICO, VC funding, and direct DAO grants. The founding team retained 23% of the LEND tokens during the 2017 ICO (later migrated 100:1 to AAVE). The report states that before receiving DAO funds, Labs had a capital base of about $48.7 million, and later received approximately $37.4 million in grants from the DAO. Currently, they are applying for an additional $51 million through the “Aave Will Win” proposal.
The report mainly questions Labs’ past product performance, stating that apart from the core protocol, six independent products launched have all failed or not achieved profitability. Among them, the RWA project Horizon claimed to have surpassed $1 billion in scale, but the actual RWA collateral was about $135 million, heavily concentrated in a single asset. Since its launch in August 2025, Horizon has generated about $216,000 in total revenue for the DAO, while incentives and related costs amounted to approximately $5.25 million, resulting in a return on investment of about 24:1.
The report also notes that early core developers of Aave V1, V2, and V3.0 left Labs between 2021 and 2022. V3.0 is considered the last major protocol version led by Labs, with subsequent versions mainly driven by DAO service providers. In related governance votes, a single large delegated address played a key role in passing the Horizon proposal, sparking community discussions about governance power concentration and fund utilization efficiency.
These controversies come at a time when a new $17.5 million product growth funding proposal is under review, further fueling discussions within the Aave community about fund allocation, performance disclosure, and governance transparency.
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
CFTC approves! Phantom Wallet receives a "no-action exemption," allowing the integration of compliant derivatives trading
The U.S. CFTC issued a no-action letter to crypto wallet developer Phantom, permitting it to integrate regulated derivatives trading interfaces without registering as a broker. The exemption comes with three major compliance requirements, including risk and conflict of interest disclosures, marking a gradual blurring of lines between DeFi and traditional markets, with significant implications for clarifying regulation of non-custodial wallets.
動區BlockTempo1h ago
AI is no longer the exclusive domain of tech giants! Tether launches QVAC—has the moment arrived for everyone to have their own LLM?
Tether announced that its AI infrastructure, QVAC Fabric, has launched the world's first cross-platform BitNet LoRA fine-tuning framework, enabling large language models to be trained on consumer-grade hardware. This technology allows devices like smartphones to complete model fine-tuning, significantly reducing AI development costs, enabling AI decentralization, and making it possible to use AI anytime and anywhere in the future.
ChainNewsAbmedia3h ago
HSBC and Standard Chartered Near Hong Kong Stablecoin Licenses
Hong Kong regulators received 36 stablecoin license applications but plan to approve only a few issuers.
HSBC and Standard Chartered are expected among the first licensed HKD stablecoin issuers.
The licensing framework builds on a sandbox program launched in 2024 to test stablecoin
CryptoFrontNews3h ago
Bitcoin Layer 2 Network Stacks Completes SIP-034 Upgrade, Network Processing Capacity Increases Up to 30x
Bitcoin Layer 2 network Stacks implemented SIP-034 upgrade on March 17, enhancing network processing capacity for certain DeFi applications by 30 times. By optimizing transaction processing limits, the upgrade significantly impacts complex DeFi applications and is expected to indirectly increase transactions and fees.
GateNews3h ago
World Launches AgentKit for CEX x402 Protocol, Supporting AI Agent Identity Verification
The World project has launched the AgentKit developer toolkit for CEX's intelligent agent payment protocol x402, enabling AI agents authorized by users verified through World to prove their real identities while safeguarding privacy. This initiative integrates payment and identity mechanisms to establish a comprehensive trust system.
GateNews3h ago
DAO Infrastructure Provider Tally Announces Shutdown
DAO infrastructure provider Tally announced it is shutting down operations, citing changes in the US regulatory environment that have reduced demand for decentralized governance. The chief executive pointed out that previous strict regulations prompted projects to adopt DAO structures, while the current lenient environment has made them no longer considered a necessary choice.
GateNews3h ago
