👨‍🔬 Governance Lab #112

Lab Report #112 - Aave’s State of the Union, Uniswap’s Plasma deployment, Compound’s Governance Recall, and more

Sep 18, 2025

gm frens 👋

Welcome back to the Governance Lab, your weekly source for all things StableLab, DeFi, and DAO Governance.

At a Glance 👀
👻 Aave DAO reviews State of the Union address by ACI
🦄 Uniswap DAO considers deploying v3 on Plasma
🏦 Compound DAO rejects recall of delegate COMP

Let’s dive in 🏊

Aave DAO

Aave Chan Initiative delivers “State of the Union” report

The Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) published its latest report to the Aave DAO, framing the progress since its launch in late 2022. At that time, Aave faced a depleted balance sheet, declining TVL, and influence from external actors. Over the past 18 months, ACI and aligned service providers have restructured operations, removed extractive relationships, and professionalized governance, helping the protocol return to a positive balance sheet and sustain market share despite competition.

The report highlights current strength: TVL, revenues, and borrowing volumes are all up, with buybacks absorbing more than 50 bps of total supply. Aave is described as “no longer threatened” in its core lending verticals, with competitors relying on unsustainable TVL growth tactics. GHO has reached critical mass, positioning the DAO to increase profitability beyond the low margins of traditional onchain lending.

Looking ahead, ACI proposes to shut down underperforming deployments, end support for “friendly forks,” and stop investment into outdated instances. Service provider compensation would move toward KPI-based models with aligned incentives. ACI also advocates continued buybacks and the use of treasury reserves and GHO credit lines for targeted growth deals under stricter guardrails.

Uniswap DAO

Uniswap DAO considers v3 deployment on Plasma

A proposal has been introduced to deploy Uniswap v3 on Plasma, a new Ethereum L2 focused on scaling stablecoin settlements. Plasma is positioning itself as an infrastructure layer optimized for payments and capital efficiency, with Uniswap v3 seen as a critical building block for liquidity.

The proposal argues that Uniswap would benefit from early integration with Plasma’s ecosystem, which is expected to attract stablecoin issuers and payments applications. Deployment would include the standard v3 contracts, managed under Uniswap governance, with liquidity incentives to be determined at a later stage.

Discussion is ongoing around potential synergies, security considerations, and long-term alignment. If support is strong, the proposal would follow the usual governance process of Snapshot signaling before an onchain vote.

Compound DAO

Compound DAO rejects delegate recall proposal

Compound DAO recently voted on a proposal introduced by community member Humpy to recall 300,000 COMP delegated through the Comptroller’s treasury. The measure sought to cancel the “Delegate Race” program, which had distributed COMP to governance participants via the FranchiserFactory mechanism. The proposal argued this model diluted the influence of natural token holders, created conflicts of interest, and risked depleting the DAO’s treasury within months.

Delegates and community members broadly opposed the move, framing it as a governance attack rather than a constructive reform. Critics noted that while the Delegate Race is imperfect, an abrupt recall would destabilize governance without a clear alternative for improving participation. The vote ended with a decisive rejection: 1.05M COMP against versus 404.3k for.

Proposal Tracker™️

💬 DISCUSSION | Arbitrum DAO - Transfer 8,500 ETH from the Treasury to ATMC’s ETH Treasury Strategies

Summary: This proposal requests moving 8,500 ETH (~$25M) from the Arbitrum treasury into the Arbitrum Treasury and Management Committee’s ETH strategies. The aim is to diversify idle ETH reserves into yield-generating strategies while maintaining security and liquidity for the DAO.

💬 DISCUSSION | Lido DAO - NEST - Network Economic Support Tokenomics

Summary: This proposal introduces the NEST framework, a tokenomics design intended to strengthen Lido’s long-term sustainability. NEST aims to improve incentive alignment between stakers, node operators, and the DAO by revising how protocol revenues and rewards are allocated across stakeholders.