Revenue dispute erupts at Aave over CoW Swap integration

A governance dispute has emerged at Aave, the largest DeFi lending protocol, after an Orbit delegate claimed that fees from the new CoW Swap-powered interface no longer flow to the Aave DAO treasury but to a separate address, potentially “stealth-privatizing” around 10% of the DAO’s potential revenue.

Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) called the situation “extremely concerning,” arguing that Aave Labs and other service providers have a fiduciary duty to act in AAVE tokenholders’ best interest. He warned that the CoW Swap integration could divert revenue streams previously earned through Paraswap referrals and flash loan fees. Zeller also raised broader questions about other Aave Labs-linked products such as Aave Vaults, Horizon, and the planned v4 liquidation engine, concerned that revenue may be flowing away from the DAO.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov defended Aave Labs, stating the company has the right to monetize its own frontend, which sits outside core protocol functionality. He emphasized that the CoW Swap integration improves user experience, provides MEV protection, and aims to increase transaction volume, ultimately benefiting AAVE tokenholders. Kulechov did not directly address all specific questions on fee destinations, Vault revenue splits, or Horizon economics.

Aave currently has nearly $34 billion in total value locked and around $112 million in annualized revenue. The AAVE token surged nearly 7% in the past 24 hours amid the governance debate.