Key Highlights:
- BGD Labs announced leaving Aave on X.
- BGD Labs plan on a smooth offboarding.
- The lab pointed out organization changes the reason for their exit.
BGD Labs announced on social media platform X today, February 20, 2026, that it will not renew its current engagement with the Aave DAO after April 1, 2026. The team has put stress on that the fact that this decision has come after a lot of consideration and that they plan to make the transition smooth for the DAO.
BGD will be leaving Aavehttps://t.co/76L0MBpTQn
— bgdlabs (@bgdlabs) February 20, 2026
Four Years of Contribution
Both the parties were working together since 2022 and had been involved in building and improving Aave’s ecosystem. From Aave v3, the core lending protocol, to various technical and governance systems, BGD Labs has played a central role in development and collaboration.
Because of BGD and their work, Aave became more robust, secure and future proof. Over the years, the Aave protocol has matured and many initial gaps have been addressed.
Why BGD Labs is Leaving
BGD Labs stated in a post, that the main reason to leave was changes in the Aave’s organizational landscape. Recently Aave’s Lab shifted its focus from centralizing contributions toward Aave v4 and other new products. While this direction makes sense, BGD Labs feel that the approach has sidelined existing contributors and undervalued their expertise.
The team also highlighted concerns about how v4 has been positioned relative to v3. They noted that promoting v4 by criticizing v3, limiting collaboration, and setting aggressive timelines for deprecating v3 feels counter productive. According to BGD Labs, these constraints limit their ability to innovate and contribute meaningfully.
What Happens Until April 1st
BGD Labs will continue all ongoing projects until the end of their current engagement. This includes work on Aave v3, Umbrella, chain expansions, asset onboarding and security tasks. Projects with defined end points will either be completed or left fully documented for others to continue. Continuous projects will also have clear documentation to make sure that there is a smooth handover.
For code-based projects, BGD Labs has already integrated or plans to move them to the Aave DAO GitHub organization, so that it will make it easy for others to maintain. Non-code projects, such as governance reviews or bug evaluations, can be handled by new contributors with proper guidance.
Future Support
BGD Labs is proposing a two-month security retainer from April 1st to June 1st, 2026. During this period, they will handle critical security incidents related to Aave v3, governance, and Umbrella systems. The proposed retainer cost is $200,000 and approval will be up to the community.
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