Ethena Pay’s Earn+ Vault Uses USDe Collateral and USDT Borrowing, Raising Hidden Loss Risks

Ethena Pay launched its Earn+ vault on October 28, pairing USDe collateral with USDT borrowing to target roughly 11‑times leverage and advertise up to 12% APY. The vault is run via Upshift and Steakhouse on Aave v4 on Avalanche, with the collateral and debt valued using an oracle that follows the Chainlink USDT/USD feed. Aave Labs’ October 20 assessment noted that the USDe price reference follows USDT, meaning a USDe‑specific depeg could go unnoticed by the oracle. If USDe falls below USDT, the reported collateral health may remain unchanged while the actual equity available after debt repayment shrinks, potentially leaving users with less equity than the protocol’s health factor suggests. The design allows a position to stay above the liquidation trigger while its economic equity falls, creating a risk of hidden losses that users may not see until a market move or exit. The exact vault account, current collateral and debt, and live oracle wiring remain unverified, so the disclosed leverage target cannot be treated as an observed position.