# Aave Labs Catches Flak for Undisclosed Fee Diversion

*Author: Jack Inabinet*
*Published: Dec 12, 2025*
*Source: https://www.bankless.com/read/news/aave-labs-catches-flak-for-undisclosed-fee-diversion*

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Aave Labs – the centralized developer entity behind crypto lending platform Aave – finds itself embroiled in controversy with community members over whether recent DEX integrations are unjustly diverting revenues away from token holders and towards Lab. 

### What's the Scoop?
- **Initial Complaint: **In an Aave DAO [governance forum post](https://governance.aave.com/t/aave-cowswap-integration-tokenholder-questions/23530) yesterday, pseudonymous delegate EzR3aL noted that swap fees via a new introduced CoW SWAP DEX integration on the Aave frontend no longer flow to the DAO as they had under a previous Paraswap referral setup.
- **Labs Product:** In response, Aave Labs [confirmed](https://governance.aave.com/t/aave-cowswap-integration-tokenholder-questions/23530/2) it was now taking the fees, viewing it as just compensation in light of the fact that Labs maintains Aave (the product) and operates its website interface.
- **Extremely Concerning:** Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative – an influential Aave DAO governance group – [labeled](https://x.com/marczeller/status/1999408520316453321) the situation as "extremely concerning" on X. "The stealth privatization of approximately 10% of Aave DAO's potential revenue, leveraging brand and IPs paid for by the DAO, represents a clear attack on the best interests of the AAVE Token holders."
- **Incentive Issue:** This is not the first time a crypto token's community has run into incentive misalignment problems with its centralized developer entity. Notably, Uniswap Labs [charges](https://support.uniswap.org/hc/en-us/articles/20131678274957-What-are-Uniswap-Labs-fees) frontend fees on certain swaps, skimming profit for equity holders at the detriment of real revenues for onchain liquidity providers and potential earnings from tokens tokens holders.
- **Right to Monetize:** Aave founder Stani Kulechov [countered](https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/1999437304599900508) that any fees which previously flowed to the DAO via Paraswap were donations, contending that it is "perfectly fine for Aave Labs to monetize its products."

> Did Aave Labs quietly redirect millions in swap fees away from the DAO treasury?[https://t.co/lwXbsbkZPx](https://t.co/lwXbsbkZPx)[$Aave](https://twitter.com/search?q=%24Aave&src=ctag&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) delegate [@DeFi_EzR3aL](https://twitter.com/DeFi_EzR3aL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)  just posted some on-chain research. The following thread breaks down his post🧵[@Marczeller](https://twitter.com/Marczeller?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@StaniKulechov](https://twitter.com/StaniKulechov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@DeFi_EzR3aL](https://twitter.com/DeFi_EzR3aL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)— fredcat (@fredcat5150) [December 11, 2025](https://twitter.com/fredcat5150/status/1999124321881543157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)