Lookonchain APP

App Store

Aave Team Raises Concerns Over Previous Performance: Received $86 Million in Funding, Holds 23% of Tokens, All Six Products Have Failed or Lost Money

2026.02.25 16:29:18

On February 25th, Marc Zeller—founder of Aave ecosystem contributor ACI—published a public report disclosing that Aave Labs has secured roughly $86 million in cumulative capital backing since 2017, including proceeds from its 2017 ICO, venture capital (VC) funding, and direct grants from the Aave DAO. The founding team set aside 23% of LEND tokens during the 2017 ICO; those tokens later migrated to AAVE at a 100:1 ratio. Prior to receiving DAO funding, Labs held approximately $48.7 million in capital. Since then, it has secured ~$37.4 million in DAO grants and is now seeking an additional $51 million via the “Aave Will Win” proposal. The report raises critical questions about Labs’ past product performance, noting that six independent products launched alongside the core Aave protocol have either failed outright or failed to become profitable. For the real-world asset (RWA) project Horizon: while it once claimed to have exceeded $1 billion in scale, its actual RWA collateral totals just ~$135 million—most concentrated in a single asset. Since launching in August 2025, Horizon has generated ~$216,000 in cumulative revenue for the DAO, but its incentive and related costs total ~$5.25 million, resulting in an input-output ratio of roughly 24:1. Key core developers behind Aave V1, V2, and V3.0 left Labs between 2021 and 2022. V3.0 is widely viewed as the last major protocol version led by Labs; subsequent iterations have been primarily driven by DAO service providers. In related governance votes, a single large delegation address played a pivotal role in approving the Horizon proposal, sparking community debates about governance centralization and fund utilization efficiency. This controversy emerges as the Aave community deliberates a new $17.5 million product growth grant proposal. Discussions around fund allocation, performance disclosure, and governance transparency are heating up further.
Relevant content

Nevada Court Extends Injunction: Kalshi Sports Prediction Market Ruled as "Quasi Gambling"

On April 4, a Nevada court ruled that sports contracts offered by prediction market platform Kalshi are "substantially indistinguishable from gambling" and extended a temporary restraining order (TRO) on its related operations. First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Woodbury said he will approve the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s request for a preliminary injunction to bar Kalshi from offering certain prediction market products in the state while the case proceeds. The TRO issued on March 20 has been extended for two weeks. The court found that purchasing sports event contracts on Kalshi is essentially equivalent to betting on a licensed gambling platform, thus constituting unlicensed gambling. Multiple U.S. states are tightening restrictions on prediction market platforms, arguing their sports-related products should fall under state-level gambling regulations. Kalshi, however, contends that as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated derivatives market offer

20 minutes ago

Iran Accuses Israel of Attacking US Embassy in Saudi Arabia

April 4 (FX Street) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department released a statement condemning the U.S. for claiming the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was targeted in an attack linked to Iran. The statement asserted the incident has no connection to Iran, stressing that given the region’s military strategic context, the action is “undoubtedly the work of Israel.” The IRGC added that Iran had previously clearly identified its retaliatory targets and issued necessary warnings to neighboring countries about Israel’s destabilizing activities in the region.

20 minutes ago

Oil Shortage! Middle East Conflict Continues to Escalate Crisis Spreading to Other Areas

**April 4 (CNN) — The Middle East conflict has entered its second month, with the oil shortage crisis at risk of escalating into widespread shortages across nearly all sectors.** The conflict has severely restricted oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting global supplies by roughly one-fifth. This disruption has not only driven up fuel prices but also squeezed supplies of petrochemicals used in everyday goods—from shoes, clothing and plastic bags to more. As prices rise for materials like plastic, rubber and polyester, the pressure is spreading to every corner of the consumer market. Asia is currently the hardest-hit region: it accounts for more than half of global manufacturing and relies heavily on imported oil and other commodities. Dan Martin, Co-Head of Business Intelligence at Deloitte Forensic Advisory, noted this will quickly impact all commodities—including beer, noodles, potato chips, toys and cosmetics—since plastic bottle caps, shipping

20 minutes ago

Bitcoin Offline Transaction Demo: Mesh Radio Broadcast Transaction Directly to Mempool at BOSS Summit

April 4th — Developer Bala pulled off a live demo of a fully offline Bitcoin transaction at the recent Bitcoin Open Source Summit (BOSS Summit) in Dharamsala, India, wowing the Bitcoin community. Using Mesh Radio—a wireless mesh network built on Meshtastic LoRa tech—Bala completed the transaction with no internet, no ISP, no Wi-Fi, and no cellular data. Just pure radio waves: the transaction broadcast instantly, landed straight in the Bitcoin mempool, and seamlessly moved from “off-grid” to “on-chain.” Dubbed the “ultimate cypherpunk demo,” it showcased Bitcoin’s resilience as a seizure-resistant currency—ideal for scenarios like censorship, network blackouts, disasters, or times of uncertainty. Bitshala said in an official statement: “When we talk about building seizure-resistant money for uncertain times, this is exactly what we mean.” Relevant open-source repositories are now public, letting Meshtastic devices connect to Bitcoin Core. Transaction data splits into smaller ch

20 minutes ago

Iran Claims to Shoot Down Enemy MQ-1 Drone as Military Says Strikes Hit Key Tehran Sites

April 4 (local time) — The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department announced Wednesday that the IRGC downed an enemy MQ-1 drone over Iran’s Isfahan Province. Also on Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated in a release that its air force conducted airstrikes against multiple targets in Tehran, Iran’s capital, on April 3. The strikes targeted several key Iranian infrastructure sites, including: - An IRGC air defense facility storing missiles for targeting airborne objects; - A military base tasked with protecting Iran’s weapons development facilities; - A ballistic missile storage location; - Several weapons production and research facilities. Iran has not responded to the strikes.

20 minutes ago

Suspected Bitmine Address Accumulates 40,000 ETH Again, Equivalent to $82.12 Million

April 4th — Per OnchainLens monitoring, a recently created wallet has received 40,000 ETH (valued at roughly $82.12 million) from FalconX. The address is most likely linked to Bitmine. Wallet Address: 0x9783b6Ec1350a77D8D758A724B1052a027Cb67a7

20 minutes ago