Wintermute founder rejects Aave (AAVE) token alignment plan as rift in governance deepens

Wintermute said it would vote against Aave’s token alignment proposal, citing lack of governance clarity, poor value capture, and escalating political infighting.

Wintermute founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said the trading company will vote against Aave’s token alignment proposal, adding to growing opposition within the Aave DAO as the vote nears its end.

In a detailed thread on He revealed that Wintermute has been an investor in AAVE since 2022 and is actively involved in governance, but neither he nor the company has any exposure to shares in Aave Labs.

Wintermute’s proposal is criticized

According to the CEO, the main problem is the accumulation of value and the widening mismatch of expectations between Aave Labs and a large part of AAVE token holders about who should receive value and how key external functions, especially business development, should work. Those unresolved tensions make the current proposal premature and potentially harmful, he said.

Giveaway too criticize The tone and politics surrounding voting. While he admitted that Aave founder Stani Kuleshov’s communications were “far from perfect,” he said the backlash against Aave Labs had gone too far and negatively impacted the token’s price.

He added that both sides accuse each other of a “hostile power grab,” a claim he said has some truth depending on perspective. Givoy also said that reversing or relaxing previous decisions, such as fee changes, could have helped reset the situation. Instead, the dispute escalated.

He framed the vote as a “temperature check” rather than a definitive endpoint, saying the real priority should be de-escalation and hard work on long-term solutions for symbolic value. While urging Aave Labs to engage constructively after the vote, Givoy wrote:

“Whether it succeeds or fails, it doesn’t really matter.”

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The comments come as the token alignment proposal appears unlikely to pass. Quick data shows that a majority of AAVE DAO voters oppose or abstain, with nearly 55% voting against the proposal, about 41% abstaining, and 3.5% voting in favour. Voting is scheduled for December 26.

Critics argued that Aave Labs rushed the governance process and pushed the proposal to a vote while discussions were still ongoing. The broader dispute stems from a fight over the transfer of swap fees, worth millions of dollars, that would have benefited the company rather than the DAO’s treasury.

The alignment proposal itself focuses on token holders seeking to control Aave’s brand assets, including domains, social media accounts, and naming rights. The ultimate goal is to ensure that any entity holding these assets remains accountable to the DAO.

Roadmap 2026

Before the tensions of governance, the platform situation Establishing an ambitious roadmap for 2026 that aims to expand the scope of the protocol beyond its current footprint. Kuleshov revealed the plan, which revolves around three pillars: Aave V4, Horizon, and the Aave app. Aave V4 is expected to redesign the lending protocol to reduce liquidity fragmentation and support much larger capital flows.

Horizon focuses on institutional users, allowing companies to borrow against real-world token assets such as US Treasuries while meeting compliance needs. Meanwhile, the Aave app is positioned as a consumer-oriented product aimed at onboarding millions of new users as Aave targets broader adoption.