The Securities and Exchange Commission ends a long investigation into the Aave protocol

The SEC closed its investigation into the Aave Protocol without recommending enforcement action, according to a notice dated December 16.

This decision ends a multi-year investigation into one of the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platforms and removes a significant regulatory burden in the sector.

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Close the investigation without implementation

In its notice, the SEC said it has concluded its investigation into the Aave Protocol and does not intend to recommend enforcement actions at this time.

However, the agency stressed that the closure does not constitute a waiver and does not prevent future action if circumstances change. Notice follows Securities Commission standard practice below Issuance of Securities Law No. 5310.

After four years, we are ready to share that the SEC has concluded its investigation into the Aave Protocol.

This process required significant effort and resources from our team, and from me personally as the founder, to protect Aave, its ecosystem, and DeFi more… pic.twitter.com/aZeLrZz5ZQ

— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) December 16, 2025

The investigation began ca 2021-2022during a period in which the Securities and Exchange Commission has intensified the scrutiny of loan and business tokens in governance and digital currencies.

ghost, It is a DeFi protocol Non-custodial, it allows users to lend and borrow digital assets via automated smart contracts. The protocol operates without intermediaries and is governed by token holders GHOST .

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Entry and management of AAVE in the fire

The SEC’s decision comes at a time when AVI is struggling Separate internal audit on revenue and governance.

Earlier this week, DAO members expressed concern that a change in front-end infrastructure could have diverted exchange fee revenue from the Aave DAO treasury. The problem came after switching from ParaSwap to CoW Swap in the official Aave interface.

Extremely worrying.

The furtive privatization of approximately 10% of the potential revenue of Aave DAO, exploiting the brand and IP paid for by the DAO, represents a clear attack on the best interests of $GHOST Token holders.

We will prepare an official response with @AaveChan. https://t.co/opoG3I7x7s

– Marc “七十 Billy” Zeller (@Marczeller) December 12, 2025

Government representatives said that this change could reduce… of DAO revenues Up to 10 million dollars a yeardepending on the trading volume.

Aave Labs responded that the front end is a separate product and that previous revenue sharing was voluntary.

For now, Aave is getting out of regulatory scrutiny without penalty, a common pattern as the SEC pushes back on crypto enforcement under the leadership of… Paul Atkins.

However, the protocol will face ongoing questions regarding governance, decentralization, and value capture as DeFi matures.