Stani Kulechov, founder and chief executive of Aave Labs, has rejected allegations that he attempted to sway a controversial governance vote by purchasing large amounts of Aave tokens.
The claims emerged after reports that Kulechov had bought approximately $15 million worth of AAVE tokens shortly before a community proposal failed to pass.
“These tokens were not used to vote on the recent proposal, and that was never my intention. This is my life’s work, and I am putting my own capital behind my conviction,” Kulechov said.
Governance Concerns and Community Backlash
Members of the Aave community accused Kulechov of increasing his voting power to favor Aave Labs in a vote involving control of brand assets.
The proposal sought to bring Aave’s intellectual property under the control of the Aave decentralized autonomous organization, which governs the protocol.
More than 55% of participants voted against the proposal, while over 41% abstained and only 3.5% voted in favor.
Even before voting concluded, criticism mounted that the proposal had been rushed and bypassed standard governance processes.
Fees Dispute Sparks Controversy
The debate intensified after a DAO member known as EzR3aL raised concerns about fees generated through a recent integration with decentralized exchange aggregator CoW Swap.
According to the claim, those fees were directed to a wallet controlled by Aave Labs rather than the DAO.
EzR3aL argued that such fees belong to the DAO and should not have been redirected without community approval.
The issue quickly escalated into broader concerns about transparency and alignment between Aave Labs and token holders.
Communication Gaps Acknowledged
Kulechov acknowledged shortcomings in how Aave Labs has communicated its relationship with the DAO.
He said the company has not clearly explained how its products generate value for AAVE token holders.
“In the future, we’ll be more explicit about how products built by Aave Labs create value for the DAO and AAVE token holders,” he added.
Disputed Authorship of Proposal
The proposal was listed under the name of Ernesto Boado, a former chief technical officer at Aave Labs.
Boado later stated that the submission was made without his knowledge or consent.
He said he would not have approved the proposal had he been consulted prior to its publication.
The episode has renewed debate within the Aave ecosystem about governance safeguards and the separation between builders and token holders.
