Aave Founder: DAO Has Not Failed, but Needs to Evolve to Improve Execution Efficiency

Odaily Planet Daily reports that Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov stated that decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are not coming to an end, but must undergo structural evolution to improve decision-making efficiency and support the long-term development of protocols.

On Tuesday, Kulechov published a lengthy post on the X platform, summarizing his views on DAO governance models in light of recent Aave governance controversies. Previously, internal governance conflicts within Aave DAO led to core contributor teams BGD Labs and ACI temporarily withdrawing from protocol-related work, sparking widespread community discussion.

Kulechov pointed out that current DAO governance models are often too slow, requiring weeks of forum discussions, temperature checks, and multiple rounds of formal voting, which makes it difficult for protocols to keep pace with market changes in decision-making and product iteration. Additionally, DAO governance can become increasingly politicized, with participants forming alliances and relying on louder voices to push proposals.

He stated, “Many crypto project founders think this way, but rarely say it openly — running a DAO in our current manner is very difficult, and this difficulty isn’t a technical challenge; it’s a daily struggle with the organizational structure itself.”

Nevertheless, Kulechov emphasized that DAOs still hold significant value, but need optimization in governance structures and execution mechanisms to maintain decentralization principles while achieving more efficient execution, thereby helping Aave continue to expand in the global lending market worth trillions of dollars.