Aave Founder Accused of ‘Governance Attack’ After $10M Buy Before Crucial Vote
Aave founder Stani Kulechov is going through renewed scrutiny from elements of the crypto group following a $10 million buy of AAVE tokens made shortly earlier than a carefully watched governance vote.
Critics allege the transfer was meant to extend his voting energy quite than sign long-term alignment with token holders.
The allegation surfaced publicly this week after Robert Mullins, a decentralized finance strategist and liquidity specialist, said on X that the acquisition appeared timed to affect an upcoming vote.
Mullins argued that the transaction highlights structural weaknesses in token-based governance techniques, the place giant holders can rapidly accumulate affect with out long-term commitments.
He questioned whether or not comparable conduct would happen underneath governance fashions that require tokens to be locked for prolonged durations.
Aave Governance Turmoil Exposes Fault Lines Over Power and Transparency
Those considerations have been echoed by outstanding crypto person Sisyphus, who pointed to blockchain information suggesting Kulechov could have bought hundreds of thousands of {dollars}’ price of AAVE between 2021 and 2025.
While no wrongdoing has been established, critics questioned the financial rationale of promoting giant quantities over a number of years earlier than making a large buy forward of a contentious vote.
The debate has unfolded in opposition to a broader governance dispute inside the Aave ecosystem over management of the protocol’s model and related belongings.
On December 22, Aave Labs submitted a proposal to Snapshot concerning possession of key model belongings, together with the aave.com area, social media accounts, GitHub organizations, and naming rights.
Aave Labs unilaterally pushed a model possession proposal to vote with out writer notification, escalating governance tensions over protocol asset management and worth extraction.#Dao #Aavehttps://t.co/2uRM8QM6Jy
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 22, 2025
The proposal had been authored by Ernesto Boado, co-founder of BGD Labs, however Boado publicly rejected the choice to push it to a vote, saying he had not been notified and didn’t assist the model submitted.
Boado mentioned the transfer broke belief throughout what he described as a productive discussion board dialogue and argued that the proposal was meant to switch model belongings right into a DAO-controlled authorized wrapper with robust protections in opposition to seize.
Tensions Rise Around Aave Over Brand Use, Fee Flows, and Whale Voting
The initiative adopted mounting considerations from contributors that model belongings have been getting used to assist non-public merchandise with out the DAO being the primary beneficiary.
Recent examples cited by critics embrace Aave Labs replacing Paraswap with CowSwap, a change estimated to redirect round $10 million per 12 months in charges away from the DAO, and the Horizon market launch, which generated roughly $100,000 in income whereas utilizing about $500,000 in DAO incentives.
Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative said the DAO had successfully paid a number of instances for these belongings via the unique LEND token sale, dilution, liquidity mining applications, and repair supplier charges.
Kulechov defended the rushed vote, saying dialogue had already taken place and that submitting proposals outdoors prolonged processes was not unprecedented. He mentioned the difficulty ought to finally be resolved via voting.
However, a number of observers, together with crypto educator Duo Nine, raised considerations about conflicts of curiosity when founders retain affect via non-public corporations whereas additionally shaping DAO outcomes.
Voting information has additional fueled the controversy. Samuel McCulloch of USD.ai noted {that a} small quantity of giant holders account for a major share of voting energy.
Snapshot information shows the highest three voters management greater than 58% of the vote, with the biggest pockets holding over 27%.
The controversy comes shortly after regulatory strain on Aave eased.
On December 16, Kulechov disclosed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had concluded its multi-year investigation into the protocol with out recommending enforcement motion, ending practically 4 years of uncertainty.
Aave Labs has additionally secured MiCA authorization in Europe and is preparing for the launch of Aave V4.
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