Ethena Labs has partnered with Safe Foundation to significantly reduce gas fees for USDe transactions on the Ethereum mainnet and enhance rewards for institutional and DeFi users. The strategic collaboration, announced in Zug, Switzerland, links two major infrastructures already used by DAOs, protocols, and onchain entities with strict custody controls.
The partnership delivers two immediate, concrete benefits for users holding USDe in Safe Smart Accounts. First, Safe accounts holding USDe will receive a 10x multiplier on Ethena Sats points during the current Ethena rewards program. This substantial boost is aimed at increasing incentives for early adopters, treasury managers, and institutional entities.
Second, and perhaps more impactful for user experience, Safe will sponsor Ethereum mainnet gas fees for all transactions executed by USDe holders when interacting with the asset through Safe Smart Accounts. This effectively removes a major barrier to transaction costs, making USDe more accessible and efficient to use across Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, emphasized the strategic importance of the alliance, stating, "This alliance will accelerate the integration of USDe into the deepest layers of the DeFi economy." The move is designed to position Safe's self-custodial wallet ecosystem as the preferred platform for accessing Ethena's products, particularly for institutional players.
The institutional focus of the partnership is underscored by usage data. As of January 2026, 85% of all Ethena capital held within Safe accounts is allocated to sUSDe, the staked version of USDe. This indicates that Safe's user base—primarily DAOs, protocols, and institutional entities—actively deploys Ethena products for treasury management rather than passive holding.
Safe's platform is a significant player in institutional onchain activity, securing over $60 billion in digital assets and processing roughly $4 billion in monthly transfers. On Ethereum mainnet alone, Safe Smart Accounts secure over $6 billion in stablecoin assets. Ethena's USDe, a synthetic dollar pegged to $1, is the third-largest tokenized dollar by market cap and has seen adoption on platforms like Solana's Jupiter. This collaboration represents a critical step to further integrate USDe into the core of Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem by reducing costs and enhancing user rewards.
