Aave completes annual V4 audit with no vulnerabilities amid conflict

Traders Union
All News
Crypto News
Aave completes annual V4 audit

Large-scale code review and public competition

The first phase of the audit took place from September to November 2025 and included several independent reviews. Certora assigned two researchers for eight weeks, while ChainSecurity deployed two specialists for four weeks. Trail of Bits conducted a two-week audit involving three experts, and Blackthorn worked for three weeks with a team of four specialists.

Additionally, four independent auditors reviewed the code at an early stage over a period of 13 weeks. They noted that the V4 version was one of the “cleanest” codebases before the full audit process began. Aave Labs later organized a six-week Sherlock competition. More than 900 participants submitted around 950 reports, but none revealed critical issues.

Governance conflict increases pressure on the project

The report was released amid serious disagreements within the Aave ecosystem. A day before the audit publication, the Aave Chain Initiative (ACI) announced it would gradually wind down operations over the next four months. Representatives of the initiative cited structural governance problems within the protocol.

Following the announcement, the AAVE token briefly fell to around $108 before recovering to roughly $118. ACI claims that about 233,000 votes associated with Aave Labs may have influenced the Temp Check vote on the V4 upgrade. According to the group, such vote concentration raises questions about the transparency of the governance process.

The Aave ecosystem risks losing key contributors

Additional pressure on the project comes from the departure of important development contributors. BGD Labs, which served as Aave’s main technical partner and helped develop V3, announced it will not renew its contract after April 1. This will end nearly four years of cooperation with the protocol.

Representatives of BGD Labs expressed concerns about decision-making centralization and criticized the promotion of V4 through public criticism of V3. Despite the tensions, the V4 upgrade has advanced to the ARFC stage, where structural changes are discussed before a final governance vote. The project must now manage the transition between protocol versions while addressing governance concerns and retaining key developers.

Recently we wrote that the crypto market continues its recovery, with total market capitalization reaching around $2.46 trillion, up approximately 1.2% over the past 24 hours. The Fear & Greed Index has risen to 29, remaining in the fear zone but indicating improving investor sentiment.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.