Last night's Aave vote was predictable from the start, but after reading it, it still feels upsetting.

55% of the community spoke out directly: let's keep the brand assets with the custodians, and don't kick the can to us. It sounds harsh—decentralization can be hyped up endlessly, shining brightly in whitepapers. But when it comes to signing documents, going to court, or dealing with real money consequences, the DAO collectively disappears. This isn't a governance problem; it's the community doing its most rational self-protection.

The root of the issue is actually quite simple.

DAOs want code to be unowned, and want funds to be managed by smart contracts—these are all fine and very decentralized. But what about brand rights? Once someone takes control, someone has to pay the price in the real world. Should they go to court? Who pays the legal fees? If something goes wrong, who is responsible? When these questions arise, the story of decentralization instantly weakens. The safest approach? Keep power on-chain where it shines, and shift responsibility and risk to a centralized entity.

To put it more plainly: so-called community governance is gradually becoming a mechanism of collective exemption.

There was no ideological battle in this vote; it was more like a lukewarm consensus spreading—things are fine as they are, no need to mess around. People are no longer fighting for sovereignty; instead, they’ve become masters of vetoing risks. Voting has shifted from "what we want" to "we won't take responsibility." Governance is now just about avoiding responsibility, and decentralization is just a pretty phrase.

The most ironic part is this: the 990,000 votes against are not saying the proposal is terrible, but shouting "things are too difficult in reality, let's surrender." Ideals can be decentralized, but consequences must have someone responsible. Assets can be managed by contracts, but when it comes to touching the real world, someone has to stand up. And last night's vote was like saying— that person will definitely not be me.

This move didn't make Aave lose; it was the entire DAO's idealism that took the hit.