Founder Marc Zeller said the group officially ceased operations on July 1 after more than three years, and later said he had already sold all his AAVE when he left Chaos Labs.
Aave Chan Initiative has officially shut down after a governance dispute with Aave Labs, founder Marc Zeller said. The group formally ended operations on July 1, closing a community-led governance platform after more than three years. In a July 2 social media post responding to questions following the shutdown announcement, Zeller said he sold all his AAVE when he left Chaos Labs and now holds only a negligible "dust" balance. Zeller had said ACI was launched during a DeFi downturn, when Aave’s total value locked had dropped to one-quarter of its cycle peak and the protocol was losing about $35 million annually. He said the initiative helped turn that into $150 million in annual revenue while the AAVE token rose ninefold. The closure underscores tensions inside Aave’s governance structure, where delegates and service providers can play a central role in shaping proposals and protocol direction.