Aave community erupts in governance controversy, CoW Swap integration may lead to DAO revenue privatization

ChainCatcher message, the Aave community recently erupted in governance controversy, focusing on whether CoW Swap integration causes protocol revenue to flow to Aave Labs rather than Aave DAO. A representative under the pseudonym “EzR3aL” posted on the governance forum stating that his on-chain analysis shows that transaction fees generated through the new CoW Swap interface no longer flow into the DAO treasury but are transferred to an independent address, estimated to be worth about $200,000 per week. Marc Zeller, head of the Aave Chan Initiative, described the situation as “extremely concerning,” accusing it of “secret privatization of approximately 10% of Aave DAO’s potential revenue.” The controversy has also extended to revenue distribution issues concerning Aave Vaults, Horizon, and the Aave v4 liquidation engine. Aave founder Stani Kulechov responded by saying that Aave Labs has the right to monetize its developed front-end interface, especially features outside of the protocol’s core functions, emphasizing that their goal is to increase protocol users and revenue through new features.