Aave Governance Team Resigns: Why Is DeFi “Democracy” So Difficult?

Today there's a lively event in the crypto world: Aave (a DeFi platform that allows users to lend and borrow money)’s “governance team” has stepped down. Many are curious: now that the managers are gone, who will take over? Will it be decided by voting?
First, let’s talk about what Aave is. Simply put, it’s a “decentralized bank.” You can deposit money to earn interest, or borrow if you need funds, all without traditional banks—relying instead on code and community voting to manage operations. The “governance team” is like a company’s board of directors, responsible for proposing plans (such as developing new features or distributing funds), but the final decision is made by token holders—people vote with their tokens.
Why did this team step down? Because of a proposal: to allocate funds for product development. But some community members questioned “self-voting”—the team proposing a plan and then voting for it themselves, which is like paying themselves a salary and lacks transparency. The team felt wronged, the community lost trust, and eventually, the team decided to resign directly.
So, how will the new team be chosen? DeFi projects usually rely on “community proposals + voting.” For example, members can propose a new team lineup or suggest rule changes (such as separating proposal rights from voting rights to prevent self-voting), and token holders vote to select. But the specific process for Aave depends on their subsequent proposals. The core idea is “the community makes the decisions.”
What does this event tell us? DeFi often claims to be “decentralized and democratic,” but in practice, governance can be as complicated as corporate management: teams want to do their work, but the community fears being “exploited”; voting can be manipulated through “vote spamming,” or proposals may lack transparency. It’s like electing class representatives—some nominate themselves, classmates feel it’s unfair, and eventually, the class rep resigns.
In fact, DeFi governance is still exploring the best approach. For large projects like Aave, it’s a challenge to balance professional team management with transparent community oversight. But that’s also the charm of decentralization—over time, everyone will find a better way, which is still better than traditional institutions operating in “black boxes.”