Aave Will Win, the most important proposal in Aave's history just passed with a landslide. Here's the master plan going forward: General Direction - Aave becomes fully token-centric: one asset, one model: AAVE - To date, protocol revenue per AIP-1 has accumulated to the Aave DAO: $140M in 2025, with 2026 on track to match that despite the market downturn being limited to protocol-only revenue - The AWW proposal introduces a new revenue stream: application and product revenue generated outside the Aave Protocol, now directed to the DAO as additive revenue - This covers Aave Pro, http://Aave.com, Aave App, Horizon (RWAs), and Aave Kit, all flowing back to the DAO treasury - Swaps on http://Aave.com and Aave Pro are already generating $10–20M in new revenue on top of existing protocol revenue - Aave V4's reinvestment feature ensures that float capital in pools generates yield, creating additional revenue streams, similar to how Aave V4 Spokes open up new revenue opportunities - AWW gives Aave exposure to the full vertical stack. Owning that stack is increasingly critical in a competitive landscape where protocols get commoditized - AWW also establishes a community-protected vehicle to independently govern Aave's brand assets and IP on behalf of token holders - Aave Labs commits to working exclusively on Aave-related products, fully locked in - If you own AAVE, you own not just the economic rights of the protocol, but the brand, the users, and the integrations In other words: everything belongs to one asset, the AAVE token - We believe tokens are the greatest opportunity of our time to build collectively governed protocols, but a single, unified vision is essential for execution - That vision is provided by Aave Labs, working alongside all Aave service providers to grow Aave from a $40B protocol to $1T and beyond Product Layer & Distribution - Aave App will onboard millions of users with a simple, fintech-like experience while ensuring users retain full control over their funds, backed by $1M account protection per user. A card will also launch later, generating additional fees for the Aave treasury - Aave Pro will be the premier destination for power users: sophisticated features, simple on-ramping, and the best of DeFi in one place - Aave Labs has the best designers and design engineers in the space, committed to delivering a high-fidelity experience for every user - Aave Kit will provide SOC2-compliant, enterprise-grade integration for fintechs and partners - Horizon will expand with Aave V4 support and more flexible asset onboarding to scale RWAs on Aave - New Aave V4 Spokes will unlock additional collateral and address the demand side of DeFi liquidity - Together, these products aim to bring DeFi to everyone and position Aave as the base credit and repo market for the entire $400T+ TradFi asset base Engineering & Tech - Aave Labs has the best engineers in DeFi. We built V1 through V3, GHO, and most recently V4, and this is just the surface of what we're building next - Aave V4 paves the way for next-generation lending, and Aave V3 will remain fully supported and maintained by Aave Labs for years to come - We are security-first. Smart contract security, application security, and ICT security are non-negotiable, and our recent SOC2 compliance reflects that. Institutions expect it, and we deliver it - We will invest in agentic AI, opening up new opportunities for developers building with Aave Marketing - Aave has historically led crypto in brand, events, content, and partnership marketing. We're doubling down on our brand recognition and the strong foundation we've built - Going forward, we'll expand into new audiences and channels to bring Aave mainstream, building net-new, stickier userbases among people who are new to DeFi Growth - Aave will deepen relationships across the DeFi ecosystem and build new bridges with fintechs, banks and asset managers - At its best, Aave isn't a bank. It's a financial network that any fintech, bank or an asset managers can plug into, and providing the best integration tools will be key BD efforts will rely on tight collaboration between service providers such as Token Logic and our partner networks - We honor our long-term partnerships and commitments, including @chainlink - We recognize the value Aave represents today and expect partners to approach us with the same respect Governance - We support a multi-contributor model for Aave and will continue to embrace it - We will oppose any vendor lock-ins or service providers that build products for themselves at the expense of token holders - We require full transparency from the SPs and no tolerance for relationship gating as all value needs to drive to Aave - Zero value leakage: everything built with Aave's funds must benefit Aave and be owned by Aave - SPs who align with these principles and commit to what's best for token holders will have our support on budgets, as long as they are reasonable - The DAO is taking a zero-bureaucracy approach: execution and skin-in-the-game are what matter. We are competing with some of the world's most efficient and well-funded organizations, and there is zero room for friction - Every SP will have real, measurable goals. Payments for posting governance proposals are over. We've already consolidated SPs to focus resources - Governance process improvements are coming in the months ahead: more efficiency, less politics Risk Management - We will continue to support a multi-layered risk management process encompassing both an economics risk layer and a technical risk assessment layer conducted by Aave Labs - Aave's risk management will include external risk managers such as Llama Risk and Token Logic for commercial and economic assessment. Aave Labs will also establish a permanent internal risk management function to coordinate and support external risk managers, making the overall system more resilient Building a Regulatory Moat - Aave Labs has spent years building a regulatory moat around Aave's products and deepening vertical integration - Aave is the only DeFi project at this scale with an Electronic Money License in the UK and a MiCA license in the EU - We are actively pursuing additional licenses globally to enable seamless, 1:1 fiat-to-Aave onboarding for mainstream users, a prerequisite for mass adoption - We go where the bar is high Policy - Aave Labs' policy team is world-class. We've participated in every major policy consultation over the years and will continue to fight for DeFi, protecting it from harmful regulation and ensuring legal certainty for users and integrators - The next few years will be pivotal for DeFi policy. We are fully committed Our Principles - Security-first above all else. This is non-negotiable Everything we build is truly DeFi, with self-custodial access at its core - Innovation-driven, we will move the space forward by innovating and building something new - For DeFi to scale, we need new audiences. That means growing the pie by building better experiences and infrastructure for users to access DeFi - Friendly by default: anyone should be able to work with Aave if the merits support it - Build and operate in public. Everything we do will be done openly, with the highest standard of accountability This is the direction we are committing to, a multi-year journey. The foundation is set. Now it's time to build. Aave will win.