Aave founder Stani Kulechov laid out a revenue-first roadmap for the lending protocol on May 23, framing sustainable income generation as the defining metric for DeFi’s long-term viability. The 12-month plan centers on diversifying revenue streams, boosting profit margins through GHO (Aave’s native stablecoin), and transforming the Aave App into a distribution layer governed by $AAVE token holders.
The timing is deliberate. In mid-May, Aave’s governance passed the “Aave Will Win” proposal, which mandates that 100% of revenue generated by Aave-branded products flows directly to the Aave DAO treasury rather than being retained by Aave Labs.
Revenue as the north star
Aave V3 has given him some ammunition to make that argument. Over the past 365 days, the protocol generated more revenue than all other lending protocols combined. That’s not a rounding error. It’s market dominance in a category that includes Compound, Spark, and a growing roster of newer entrants.
The strategy Kulechov outlined isn’t about squeezing more fees from existing users. It’s about building new revenue channels while improving margins on the ones that already exist. GHO sits at the center of that margin story.
