
Aave DAO disputes AaveLabs’ receipt of CoW Swap integration fees, with critics claiming about $10 million in annual revenue bypasses the DAO treasury.
A governance dispute within the Aave ecosystem has deepened after it was revealed on Dec. 4 that fees from the CoW Swap integration, replacing Paraswap on app.aave.com, have been directed to AaveLabs’ wallet instead of the DAO treasury. DAO representatives estimate this diversion amounts to around $10 million annually and have criticized it as a form of covert privatization. In response, delegates are pressing for all Aave intellectual property, brand rights, and frontend assets to fall under full tokenholder control, while AaveLabs maintains that its product teams operate independently from protocol-level governance.