Ethena teams up with Safe to launch gas-free transactions and 10x rewards, accelerating the mainstream adoption of USDe

Ethena Labs announces a strategic partnership with the smart account platform Safe Foundation. According to the agreement, users conducting USDe-related transactions using Safe accounts on the Ethereum mainnet will enjoy Gas-free benefits, and their USDe assets will earn 10 times the Ethena points rewards.

This collaboration aims to steer the stablecoin economy toward a “self-custody track” and to establish Safe’s self-custody wallet ecosystem as the preferred gateway to access Ethena products.

01 Strategic Alliance: When Leading Stablecoins Meet Top Asset Custody Platforms

Ethena Labs and Safe Foundation announced a strategic partnership in mid-January 2026, aimed at reshaping the stablecoin user experience.

Safe is a leading multi-signature smart account platform, managing digital assets worth over $60 billion. Meanwhile, Ethena Labs’ synthetic USD stablecoin USDe, with a supply exceeding $6.4 billion, has risen to become the third-largest stablecoin globally.

The foundation of this partnership lies in the highly overlapping user bases and strong market demand. Data shows that among Ethena-related assets held on the Safe platform, up to 85% are held in interest-bearing staked versions, sUSDe.

This clearly indicates that Safe users—including decentralized autonomous organizations, various protocols, and institutional entities—have deeply integrated Ethena’s products into their fund management strategies.

02 Dual Incentives: Eliminating Transaction Friction and Amplifying Holding Rewards

The core of this partnership involves two direct incentives affecting user assets and experience, jointly serving as powerful levers to promote USDe adoption.

The first incentive is Gas-Free transactions. For users managing USDe via Safe smart accounts, the Safe Foundation will sponsor all Gas fees for USDe-related transactions on the Ethereum mainnet.

This means users can transfer, interact with DeFi protocols, and perform operations without paying network fees, an official called a “significant user experience unlock for multi-signature users.”

The second incentive is a 10x points reward bonus. During the current Ethena points reward program, USDe held in Safe accounts will receive a 10x acceleration multiplier.

This measure significantly enhances the potential returns for early adopters and institutions managing funds via Safe.

03 Industry Background: The Rise of USDe and Market Divergence

To understand the significance of this collaboration, it is necessary to consider the recent development background of USDe. Over the past year, USDe has experienced a notable adoption wave, with its supply increasing by 75% in 2025 and briefly surpassing a $10 billion market cap.

This has solidified its position as the third-largest stablecoin in the market.

Market opinions on USDe are divided. On one hand, its high yields and integration with mainstream exchanges like Binance provide strong bullish momentum.

On the other hand, concerns about its structural risks persist. For example, after a significant market correction in October 2025, traders withdrew over $8 billion from USDe, reflecting worries about its “depegging” risk under pressure.

Ethena’s roadmap demonstrates its commitment to expanding adoption. The company plans to launch two new products comparable in scale to USDe in Q1 2026 and participate in security certification pilot projects to boost institutional confidence.

04 Future Impact: Driving Deep Institutional Adoption in DeFi

Analysts believe that the impact of this partnership will go far beyond simple user incentives. It combines Safe’s unmatched secure custody capabilities with Ethena’s innovative yield model, paving a pathway for USDe into a more deeply integrated DeFi economy—an “institutional track.”

Safe processes over $4 billion in asset transfers monthly, serving as a critical on-chain fund management infrastructure.

Seamless integration of USDe into this ecosystem means that large institutional and protocol funds can access and utilize USDe and its interest-bearing products conveniently, without sacrificing security and autonomous custody rights.

Ethena founder Guy Young pointed out that 83% of Ethena capital on Safe is staked as sUSDe, “clearly validating the strong, professional demand for Ethena-related products in fund management.”

This partnership is expected to further accelerate this trend.

05 Market and Token Dynamics: ENA Price Shows Positive Signals

The governance token ENA related to the USDe stablecoin has recently shown active market performance with positive volatility.

According to Yahoo Finance data as of January 14, 2026, ENA’s latest price is $0.242128, up 10.40% in the day’s trading.

Looking at recent trends, ENA’s price has been oscillating upward since late 2025. For example, in early December 2025, its price was around $0.24, and after some fluctuations, it has now rebounded to similar levels, with a significant intraday increase on January 14.

This price movement partly reflects market optimism about the latest developments in the Ethena ecosystem, including the major partnership with Safe. For traders monitoring ENA on platforms like Gate, ecosystem adoption and product integration are key fundamental factors influencing its value.

Future Outlook

Among the over $6 billion in stablecoin assets managed by Safe, USDe and its interest-bearing version sUSDe are rapidly becoming central. This adoption is not accidental; data shows that up to 85% of Ethena assets held by Safe users are staked for yield.

On the day of the partnership announcement, ENA tokens on Gate exchange surged over 10%, reflecting initial market recognition of this powerful alliance. Gas-free transactions remove the last barrier for users interacting with the complex DeFi world, while the 10x reward directly increases static yields on assets stored in Safe vaults.

Ethena’s roadmap indicates that in Q1 2026, two new products comparable in scale to USDe will be launched. This stablecoin revolution driven by top-tier infrastructure has just begun.