A $51 million funding request from Aave Labs is heading to a governance vote tomorrow, and the debate around it is anything but quiet. The AAVE coin traded at $116.97 Wednesday, up 4% on the day, as tokenholders weigh accusations of fee capture without consent, governance concentration, and whether Labs has delivered commensurate value to the DAO that funds it.
Aave DAO Vote Puts $51M Funding Request in Focus
Aave Labs has asked tokenholders to approve up to $51 million in first-year funding, including $25 million in stablecoins, 75,000 AAVE tokens, and milestone-based grants tied to products such as Aave App and Aave Pro. The team pledged to route 100% of product revenue back to the DAO treasury and commit an additional $10 million annually from swap-related income.
The proposal follows disclosures that Labs has received $86 million in total capitalization across ICO proceeds, venture funding, DAO payments, and roughly $5.5 million in swap fees. On-chain data cited by Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative shows that 933 ETH were captured after a mid-2025 interface change redirected 15–25 basis points of partner fees, accelerating to about $510,000 per week without a governance vote.
Zeller argues that V3.0, as delivered by Labs, generated $3.33 million in DAO revenue, while later iterations built by DAO service providers produced $179 million, accounting for 98.2% of V3 revenue. He also highlights governance concentration, including 663,015 NAY votes tied to a cluster connected to the founding infrastructure.
Despite the friction, Aave maintains over $26 billion in total value locked. Data shows that the protocol generates $8–10 million in monthly revenue, has shifted toward real-world assets, and has recently crossed $1 billion in RWA deposits via Horizon, alongside expanding stablecoin lending.
Even so, AAVE coin price remains roughly 80% below its cycle highs, underscoring how liquidity conditions continue to dominate price.
Daily Structure Holds, But Analysts Flag a Decisive Range
AAVE price is caught between two reads. Moving averages are pressing down from above, with short-term EMAs and SMAs all sitting above spot price, but oscillators are staying quiet, with the RSI cooling into neutral rather than flashing any distress. The indicators lean toward a sell, but not urgently.
Michaël van de Poppe sees something more constructive beneath the surface. He has singled out AAVE as one of the stronger monthly structures in the market, citing its relative resilience during broader pullbacks as evidence that the asset is holding up while weaker names are breaking down. His read is that the foundation remains intact even if short-term momentum has softened.
Another popular chartist, Crypto Patel, is watching a wider range. He sees buyers defending the $94–$110 demand zone and views $178 as the level that would confirm a broader bullish shift.
If that breaks, he has cycle targets at $190, $345, $579, and ultimately $1,000+, roughly 10x from the accumulation zone. Until then, he treats the current range as consolidation rather than deterioration.
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