Aave DAO opposes the protocol's front-end fees no longer flowing into the treasury.

An internal debate within the Aave DAO has sparked questions about who controls the protocol's interface and who benefits financially from it. Earlier this month, Aave Labs integrated CoWSwap into the app.aave.com interface, replacing the Paraswap route previously used for collateralized swaps. Representatives pointed out that this prevents swap-related fees from flowing into the Aave DAO's coffers. Orbit representative EzR3aL stated that this integration introduced approximately 15 to 25 basis points of front-end fees, which flowed to external recipients rather than the DAO. On-chain data shows that Ethereum associated with the CoWSwap partner fee mechanism is distributed weekly across multiple networks, potentially amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually. At the heart of the debate is the distinction between "protocol" and "product." In a forum response, Aave Labs stated that the interface is independent of the DAO.