Chaos Labs Wanted to Replace Chainlink on Aave: Why Stani Kulechov Said No

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Ah, Chaos Labs, the brave risk managers who tried to rock the boat of Aave (AAVE), only to sail straight into the storm of their own ambitions. After three years of service, they’ve decided to pull the plug, citing “unsustainable economics” and “disagreements” over how Aave’s V4 should be managed. Isn’t it just like a great drama?

Their dramatic exit marks yet another twist in the saga of core contributors leaving Decentralized Finance’s (DeFi) largest lending protocol. Aave, which has been busily sitting on over $24 billion in total value locked, seems to be facing some turbulence. Hold onto your seats, folks.

Chaos Labs Hightails It After Three Years of Managing Aave’s Risk

Omer Goldberg, the founder of Chaos Labs, laid out three factors that led to this grand exit. You might want to take notes.

  • Key V3 contributors had already left, doubling their workload. Yes, because who doesn’t love doubling their workload when everyone else is packing up?
  • Aave V4 rolled out a shiny new architecture that seemed to bring a mountain of legal and operational baggage. Just when you thought your problems were solved, they multiplied.
  • Despite being offered a $5 million budget, they still claimed it would put them in the red. Not exactly the financial dream they had in mind.

“The engagement no longer reflects how we believe risk should be managed,” Goldberg declared, as if to say, “We’re out, but it’s not us, it’s you.”

Goldberg went on to compare Aave’s risk spending to the more traditional, steady banking benchmarks. Aave, which raked in a tidy $142 million in 2025, was spending only $3 million on risk-just 2% of revenue. Meanwhile, banks happily toss around 6% to 10% of their profits on compliance and risk. Aave’s budget? Just a mere fraction. No wonder Chaos Labs felt it was time to jump ship.

Aave Responds: Stani Kulechov’s Drama Continues

Stani Kulechov, Aave’s illustrious founder, took a moment to acknowledge the departure, but he wasn’t having any of Goldberg’s narrative. Apparently, Chaos Labs wanted to be the big boss, replacing Chainlink price oracles with their own product across new deployments. A bold, perhaps a bit too bold, move.

We respect the decision of Chaos Labs to step down as one of the two risk managers for the Aave DAO.

We want to thank Chaos Labs for their work over the years. They have been a valuable partner to the Aave DAO, and their contributions have helped Aave grow and mature.

There is…

– Stani (@StaniKulechov) April 6, 2026

But here’s the kicker: Aave said “no thanks” to both proposals, to avoid what they called the dreaded “vendor lock-in.” No one wants to be stuck with a single supplier, no matter how charming they may seem at first.

Enter LlamaRisk. This DeFi risk management firm, which has already been cozying up with Aave and other big players like Curve and Ethena, promised a seamless transition. No worries, they said-just a little shakeup, and we’re all good.

We acknowledge @ChaosLabs’ sudden announcement to step down from their @Aave risk mandate.

LlamaRisk has served the Aave ecosystem for the past two years, delivering risk frameworks, parametrization, and quantitative models underpinning all Aave deployments across V3, V4, and…

– LlamaRisk (@LlamaRisk) April 6, 2026

And meanwhile, over in analyst land, Duo Nine raised a few eyebrows. They wondered if Aave was really focusing on the right thing, pointing out that V3, which still holds over $24 billion, was being overshadowed by leadership’s obsession with the mere $10 million in V4 deposits. Priorities, am I right?

At the time of writing, AAVE was trading near $92, down almost 4%. It’s not looking great for the token, which is facing sustained selling pressure, thanks to governance tensions and a series of dramatic exits by contributors. A lot of mood swings in the market.

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2026-04-07 10:46