Key Highlights
- BGD Labs will stop contributing to Aave DAO on April 1, 2026, ending nearly four years of work.
- The departure is due to governance and collaboration issues with Aave Labs, especially around the development of Aave v4.
- BGD will finish ongoing projects and provide documentation so other contributors can maintain Aave systems smoothly.
BGD Labs, a technical contributor to the Aave protocol, has announced today that it will conclude its engagement with the Aave DAO on April 1, 2026. The team, which has been working closely with Aave for four years, stated that it will not renew its engagement.
“We would like to inform the community with sufficient time in advance that, once our current engagement for services with the Aave DAO will conclude on April 1st, 2026, we will not be seeking a renewal and will cease our contribution to Aave,” the team said in a blogpost.
Why BGD Labs is leaving
BGD Labs was founded in early 2022 with the mission to build in the DeFi and web3 ecosystem. From the beginning, the team dedicated almost all its efforts to Aave, helping develop major technical systems, including Aave v3, which BGD calls the “crown jewel” of the protocol.
Over the years, the team contributed to the governance system, the umbrella mechanism for coverage, as well as chain expansions, and asset onboarding, among other things. BGD Labs highlighted that many early issues in Aave were resolved during its tenure, leaving the protocol in a mature, stable, and future-proof state.
However, recent changes in the Aave organizational structure prompted the decision to leave. In the statement, BGD Labs pointed to growing influence from Aave Labs, which is moving from being an independent company to a central driver of the ecosystem with Aave v4 and other products.
“While this pivot is totally legitimate and potentially positive to overall Aave, we believe the way of addressing it has been badly executed,” BGD Labs said. The team criticized what it called a lack of collaboration on v4 development and said v3 improvements were being sidelined.
Disagreement around Aave v4 development
BGD Labs said there are some disagreements in communications around the Aave protocol, including the Aave v4, which often includes implicit criticism of v3, even though v3 remains widely used and fully functional. The team noted that its input on v4 was largely limited to public feedback, rather than active collaboration in planning or development.
“Collaboration is in terms of Aave Labs having a scope and hefty budget for development, and everybody else advising them ‘for the sake of collaboration,’” the team noted.
Plan for smooth transition
Despite the disagreement, BGD said that it will continue its work until April 1, 2026. Ongoing projects will either be completed or properly documented for other contributors to carry forward.
The team also plans to publish guidelines on minimal maintenance requirements for these systems to help the community manage them after BGD’s departure.
Looking forward, BGD proposed retaining its support for the community for another two months while a replacement team is organized. This is expected to cover the handling for Aave v3, the governance system, and the Umbrella sub-system. The retainer is estimated at $200,000 and will be submitted as a separate governance proposal for the DAO to approve its desires.
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