PANews reported on January 6 that according to Protos, the Aave Governance Forum recently proposed a proposal to link USDe to Tether's USDT at a 1:1 ratio, which has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially considering the difference in decoupling risks between the two. The proposal, which is currently in the consultation stage, aims to replace the existing Chainlink USDe/USD oracle by hard-coding the USDe price to match the USDT price in the Aave pricing feed to ensure seamless integration and reduce disruptions caused by USDe price fluctuations.

However, two of the proposal’s co-authors are from ChaosLabs and LlamaRisk, risk management firms associated with Ethena, which has raised questions about conflicts of interest from MakerDAO community member “ImperiumPaper,” who likened it to a real estate agent representing both buyers and sellers. Additionally, Tether is (ostensibly) fully backed by off-chain assets, ensuring that USDT can be redeemed off-chain at a 1:1 ratio for USD. In contrast, USDe, which is backed by a Delta-neutral balance of long and short positions, faces the risk of “persistent negative funding rates,” which could occur if market sentiment turns bearish. One user likened the move to an “aggressive growth proposal,” while another criticized the circular logic of acknowledging different risks and then treating assets as having the same value instead of taking appropriate action.

In response, Ethena founder Guy Young denied any conflict of interest and highlighted the project’s risk committee, which is designed to “provide external discipline and accountability regarding the ongoing management of the product.”