TLDR
- Marc Zeller says ACI will not renew with Aave DAO and will exit by July.
- ACI plans a four-month wind down while continuing governance and handoffs.
- ACI seeks an early lump-sum transfer for 120 days of its GHO funding stream.
- BGD Labs also plans to stop work when its Aave contract ends in April.
Marc Zeller says the Aave Chan Initiative will leave the Aave DAO by July and wind down over four months. The exit follows BGD Labs’ plan to stop work in April, while a dispute over fee routing, voting power, and accountability keeps building across Aave governance channels.
ACI sets a July exit and a four-month transition
The Aave Chan Initiative, known as ACI, said it will not renew its engagement with the Aave DAO. Marc Zeller, the group’s founder, shared the decision in a statement published Tuesday. He said ACI plans to exit the DAO by July.
NEW: MARC ZELLER’S ACI TO LEAVE AAVE IN JULY AMID GROWING GOVERNANCE TENSIONS – THE BLOCK
SOURCE: https://t.co/XTTATVf03v pic.twitter.com/CYyLCjW2pv
— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) March 3, 2026
Zeller said the team will keep working during the transition period. “ACI will wind down over four months,” he said. He added that ACI will continue governance activity and complete pending Skyward commitments. He also said the group will focus on infrastructure handoff and transition work.
Governance tensions and the dispute over revenue flows
The recent tension grew from a dispute that began in December on Aave governance channels. A community member known as EzR3aL questioned fee routing tied to a CoW Swap integration. The concern centered on fees going to Aave Labs, rather than the DAO treasury.
The debate expanded to control and accountability issues within Aave governance. BGD Labs proposed moving Aave brand assets, such as domains and trademarks, under DAO control. A Snapshot vote took place during the holiday period, and the proposal did not pass. Opposition included Aave founder Stani Kulechov.
In January, Kulechov published a post titled “How AAVE will win.” The discussion later moved into a formal temp check from Aave Labs in February. That proposal offered to route revenue from Aave-branded products to the DAO treasury. The products listed included the frontend app, swaps, Aave Pro, and the Aave Card. The proposal also requested about $51 million in funding, including stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens.
Voting power claims and the trigger for ACI’s departure
Zeller said BGD Labs’ decision to step away was a key factor behind ACI’s move. “The main spark is BGD leaving,” Zeller told The Block. BGD Labs had said on Feb. 20 it will stop contributing when its contract ends in April. It cited disagreements over direction and governance dynamics.
The “How AAVE will win” temp check passed with 52.58% voting in favor. Zeller argued that the result depended on voting power tied to Aave Labs. He said that excluding about 233,000 AAVE from three address clusters he described as Labs-linked would change the outcome. Zeller said this raised concerns about whether commitments could be changed by one party. “We don’t consider the current governance process decentralized enough,” he said.
ACI seeks early settlement of its GHO funding stream
Alongside the exit plan, ACI is seeking to end its GHO stablecoin funding stream early. The request targets stream ID 100070 on the Aave Collector. ACI asked for a transfer equal to 120 days of stream payments to its treasury. It also asked for the remaining balance to return to the Aave Collector.
Zeller said a lump sum is needed to complete a planned transition. “Converting the stream to a lump sum is the only way,” he said. He also set a condition if the DAO rejects the request. “In that case we’ll cease all activity immediately,” Zeller said, and he added that ACI would cut its own stream.
