AAVE token holder proposes ‘poison pill’ for DAO to absorb Aave Labs amid contentious revenue debate

A user named tulipking proposed a drastic measure, dubbed a "poison pill," within the Aave governance forum to allow the Aave DAO to take full control of Aave Labs, including its intellectual property (code, trademarks) and corporate equity. This escalation stems from a contentious debate over revenue allocation, specifically after a recent CoW Swap integration appeared to divert front-end swap fees from the DAO treasury to Aave Labs. Tulipking argues Aave Labs has "privatized what should be a community-owned asset" by monetizing the brand without DAO approval. The proposal seeks to reclaim all past revenue generated by Aave Labs from Aave-branded products and convert Aave Labs into a wholly owned subsidiary of the DAO. Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, called it "the most important proposal in the history of the Aave governance," highlighting uncertainty over who legally owns the Aave trademark and IP. Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov acknowledged the lack of transparency regarding the CoW Swap change but defended the move as improving user experience and stated the diverted fees were a "voluntary donation," not an entitlement.

(Source：The Block)