On January 6, PANews reported that the Aave governance forum recently proposed a plan to peg USDe to Tether's USDT at a 1:1 ratio. This proposal has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, especially considering the differences in uncoupling risks between the two. The proposal is currently in the consultation phase and aims to replace the existing Chainlink USDe/USD oracle by hardcoding the USDe price to match the USDT price in Aave’s pricing source, ensuring seamless integration and reducing disruptions caused by fluctuations in the USDe price.
However, the two co-authors of the proposal are from ChaosLabs and LlamaRisk, risk management companies associated with Ethena, raising concerns from MakerDAO community member 'ImperiumPaper' about conflicts of interest, comparing it to a real estate agent representing both buyers and sellers simultaneously. Additionally, Tether (on the surface) is fully backed by off-chain assets, ensuring that USDT can be exchanged for dollars at a 1:1 ratio off-chain. In contrast, USDe is supported by a delta-neutral balance of long and short positions, facing the risk of 'persistent negative funding rates,' which could occur if market sentiment turns bearish. One user likened this move to a 'radical growth proposal,' while another criticized this circular logic of acknowledging different risks and then treating the assets as having the same value without taking appropriate measures.
In this regard, Ethena founder Guy Young denied any conflict of interest and emphasized the establishment of a risk committee for the project, which aims to provide external discipline and accountability for the ongoing management of the product.