The DeFi sector was not peaceful during Christmas. The governance crisis erupting within the Aave ecosystem is tearing apart the internal structure of this leading protocol—conflicts between token holders and Aave Labs have intensified, involving hundreds of millions in funds. Several major whales have already cut their losses and exited, with losses exceeding $13 million.

The trigger for the incident seems simple but is highly destructive. Aave Labs unilaterally changed the flow mechanism of front-end transaction fees. The annualized $10 million revenue that should have gone into the DAO treasury (the shared asset of all AAVE holders) was directly transferred into the company's private account. Founder Stani's subsequent statement further fueled the flames—he claimed that this fund rightfully belonged to Labs, and the portion previously allocated to the DAO was merely a "voluntary donation."

This reveals a fundamental contradiction: AAVE token buyers gain governance rights and ecosystem revenue sharing, while Aave Labs controls the rights to technological iteration and business decisions. When the equity side attempts to unilaterally cut off the token holders' income sources, the entire balance of power collapses.

Community reactions have been exceptionally intense. Radical factions proposed a "poison pill" plan, demanding lawsuits against Aave Labs, confiscation of 100% of its equity, and recovery of all past earnings; more moderate voices from a former CTO suggested transferring domain names, social accounts, and brand ownership entirely to DAO governance. Both proposals target the same core goal: reclaim the seized rights and assets.

This turmoil offers a clear lesson for the entire DeFi investment community. When protocol governance structures have ambiguous divisions between equity and token rights, similar internal conflicts are like hidden mines lurking beneath. For token holders, understanding the project's power distribution mechanisms and historical dispute records may be more effective than chasing price swings in avoiding million-dollar pitfalls.