Aave token holders voted against a controversial governance proposal that would have transferred control of the protocol's brand assets to a DAO.
On Friday, December 26, the poll closed, with 55.29% of voters voting "no" and 41.21% abstaining. Only 3.5% of voters supported the proposal.
The rejection capped a tense governance episode for Aave, one of the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols.
Beyond the vote itself, the rejection raised deeper concerns among influential token holders about how Aave distributes value and conducts governance.
Wintermute founder and CEO Eugene Gavoy posted on social media that his firm had voted against the proposal, calling on Aave Labs to take long-term alignment seriously. In his view, addressing the issue of token price influence remains crucial not only for Aave but for the entire crypto ecosystem. He added that success in this area could serve as a model for other protocols facing similar challenges.
The vote was dogged by controversy over how the proposal was presented to the vote, after a board discussion escalated into a broader dispute over process and authority. The controversy reached a climax after Aave founder Stani Kuleshov purchased $10 million worth of AAVE tokens just before the vote. Community members argued that this episode exposed a structural weakness in token-based governance, where large holders can significantly influence the outcome.