Aave Chan Initiative to exit Aave DAO after governance clash over funding
The Aave Chan Initiative (ACI), a major governance delegate and service provider within the Aave ecosystem, said it will not renew its engagement with the Aave DAO and plans to wind down over the next four months.
In a statement on Tuesday, ACI founder Marc Zeller said the organization would continue governance activity and complete outstanding commitments before transferring its infrastructure and responsibilities to the DAO or successor providers.
“The Aave Chan Initiative was built for Aave. Without a future in the Aave ecosystem, the name no longer applies. ACI will wrap up as our obligations conclude,” Zeller wrote.
ACI said its decision to exit was driven by concerns over governance standards and voting dynamics during the proposal process, marking a significant shift in Aave’s governance landscape as its funding plan advances to the next stage.
Aave’s governance transition
The announcement follows a closely contested Temp Check vote on Aave’s “Aave Will Win” proposal, which seeks to allocate up to $42.5 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens to Aave Labs under a DAO-funded development model.
ACI had previously questioned the size of the funding package and the inclusion of the Aave tokens, which carry voting power. On Feb. 25, competing reports from ACI and Aave Labs offered different interpretations of Aave Labs’ past contributions before the vote.
The Temp Check passed. On Sunday, the off-chain Snapshot vote closed with 52.58% voting in favor, 42% against and 5.42% abstaining.
Under Aave’s governance, proposals must move through the Aave Request for Final Comment (ARFC) stage and another off-chain vote before advancing to a binding onchain Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) vote.
According to data from DeFiLlama, Aave holds about $26.51 billion in total value locked, making it one of the largest decentralized finance protocols by deposits. Overall, DeFi TVL stands at roughly $93 billion, meaning Aave accounts for close to one-third of assets locked across the sector.
Governance concerns and voting claims
In its statement, ACI said that the Temp Check was “decided by Labs-linked addresses voting on their own budget,” referring to the funding proposal submitted by Aave Labs.
The group said that there is “no role for an independent service provider” in an environment where a major budget recipient holds undisclosed voting power and participates in votes affecting its own funding.
ACI said it will submit a direct-to-Aave Improvement Proposal to cancel its GHO funding stream and transfer 120 days’ worth of payments to the treasury to complete its transition. It also said it would cut its AAVE vesting stream via LlamaPay following the proposal’s execution.
Aave Labs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
