Authors: Safe Ecosystem Foundation (SEF), represented by the Foundation Council
Created: 2026-09-17
Abstract
This proposal requests ~7,400,000 SAFE tokens from the SafeDAO treasury to fund Safenet Aegis - the phase following Safenet Beta - over a limited 12-month period beginning Tuesday, October 13th 2026. Specifically:
- ~5,000,000 SAFE tokens to be allocated for validator staking rewards for a 12-month period, distributed every 2 weeks.
- ~2,400,000 SAFE to be allocated as milestone-based grants to 6 genesis Sentinels - 400,000 SAFE per Sentinel - over the same period, distributed every 3 months.
The requested funding is intended to:
- sustain Validator participation and attestation coverage for a further 12 months
- extend Safenet and SAFE token utility to a second participant class (Sentinels) via participation based grants
- bridge the period until fee-based rewards can cover Sentinel and Validator participation
Proposal types
SEP: Governance Proposals
SEP: Constitutional Proposals
SEP: Other SEPs
1. Achievements of Safenet Beta
SEP-55 Goals & Performance, Q1-Q3 2026:
- Goal 1: validate whether the validator network can reliably process transaction checks at scale
- Goal 2: validate whether validator participation can be measured and incentivized
- Outcome: 0.1% downtime in terms of the Beta’s reliability. Downtime measures infrastructure availability.
- Goal 3: validate whether SAFE staking and delegation can bootstrap economic security
- Outcome: 76,889,190 SAFE staked across 865 unique stakers
2. What is Safenet Aegis?
Safenet Aegis is the first production release of the decentralized transaction security network for Safe accounts, following a successful Beta release. It introduces the role of Sentinels who independently evaluate dynamic wallet transactions and return a real-time verdict - secure or insecure - with supporting reasoning signals. Eligible secure results decided by Sentinels are then attested by Validators, and can be enforced onchain with the Safenet Guard.
The goal of Safenet Aegis is to:
- By the end of the year, showcase with real revenue (at least $30k in monthly revenue) that there is a sustainable network revenue model. Whether a share of future fee volume is allocated to DAO-controlled protocol funds (fee switch) remains subject to a separate SafeDAO decision and applicable law(s).
Safenet Aegis intentionally launches with:
- A live integration with Safe{Wallet} and its users, running advanced checks in return for fees, targeted for Q4 this year.
- A trusted permissioned validator set consisting of 6 Validators run by Gnosis, Core Contributors, Greenfield, Safe Labs, RockawayX and Blockchain Capital with a minimum stake of 3.5M SAFE tokens, each.
- A trusted permissioned sentinel set of 6 Sentinels run by Blocksec, Hexens, Hacken, Intentguard, OpenCover and Candide.
- A UI enabling SAFE holders to stake / unstake to Safenet Aegis Validators
- A transaction attestation explorer
- DAO-funded rewards for Sentinels, Stakers and Validators (if SEP-56 passes)
Safenet Aegis is governed by SafeDAO. The DAO controls the following parameters via the usual governance process:
- Sentinel and Validator sets
- Fees and bond amounts
- Slashing percentage
- DAO fee share (fee switch; if applicable) and recipient
Safenet’s core contracts are non-upgradeable, but SafeDAO can vote to replace them.
Governance Implementation: A new SafeDAO-controlled Safe on Gnosis Chain will be introduced and connected to Snapshot, giving SafeDAO governance direct control over the parameters above.
3. Integration in Safe{Wallet}
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Safe Labs plans to add opt-in support for Safenet Aegis transaction checks in Safe{Wallet} and Safe Pro by Q4 2026.
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Scope is Safe-transactions only on Ethereum mainnet, Arbitrum, and Gnosis Chain and the types of checks are detailed in the Safenet Charter.
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Check verdicts are conducted by 6 independent Sentinels while onchain attestation are handled by the Validators.
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Checks will be monetised as an opt-in fee within the Safe{Wallet} transaction flow. It will also be available under the Safe Pro subscription model.
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Safenet checks can also be used without enabling the Guard
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Ultimately, the Guard cannot block a transaction and can always be overridden by the user.
4. Reward design - Validators
Ask
- ~5,000,000 SAFE for Validator staking rewards over 12 months from Tuesday, October 13th distributed every two weeks on the same cadence and methodology as SEP-55.
- Rationale: For Safenet Aegis, there is no direct connection between the protocol fees and the validator rewards. Under Aegis’ current fee model, 100% of income flows to Sentinels who perform checks. Subsidies incentivise Validators to continue participating in Safenet (as they play a crucial role in the attestation process).
Run-rate comparison against SEP-55
| SEP-55 | SEP-56 | |
|---|---|---|
| Validator reward pool | 4,500,000 SAFE | ~5,000,000 SAFE |
| Duration | 6 months (Apr-Oct 2026) |
12 months (Oct 2026-Oct 2027) |
| Per-period pool | ~346,000 SAFE | ~192,000 SAFE |
Staking Design & Scope
- Design broadly follows SEP-55 (see Rewards - Safe Docs ). However:
- the minimum reward payout threshold will be removed
- With the introduction of Sentinels, validators no longer perform transaction checks and only need to provide attestations.
5. Reward Design - Sentinels
Ask
- 2,400,000 SAFE, distributed by SafeDAO, granted to six genesis Sentinels, subject to achieving agreed tx participation of 75% over 12 months. Evaluated and distributed every 2 weeks.
- This implies 400,000 SAFE per Sentinel over 12 months
- Rationale: Cover the cold-start problem of lower initial user volumes while Sentinel discovery, integration, and product iteration are still ongoing - bridging the period until fee volumes can sustain Sentinel participation.
Participation milestone
- Eligibility is tied to a Sentinel participation rate of ~75% per distribution period
- Sentinels operating a narrower check scope who fail to reach the 75% continue to earn Wallet user fee split but do not qualify for the SAFE grant.
- Sentinels are required to run the full reference coverage (in the Charter). Sentinel specialisation can only open when the set expands and Aegis’ logic is updated.
- Unclaimed or forfeited amounts are not redistributed to other Sentinels, whether due to fewer than 6 genesis Sentinels being active or a Sentinel falling below the participation threshold.
Fees & Bonds
- Fees are explicitly decided by Safe{DAO} Governance through SEPs.
- Initially proposed Safenet fee is set at 0.40 USDC per check, paid entirely to Sentinels; the SafeDAO protocol share is 0% to support bootstrapping the network. The split remains governance-controlled and may change in a future proposal (and subject to applicable laws).
- Each participating Sentinel posts a bond for the check. At launch, the bond is 800 USDC per Sentinel per check, derived from the configured transaction fee. The bond creates economic accountability for Sentinel decisions.
- The launch configuration provides for a bond-slashing-free dry run through the end of 2026. During this period Sentinels risk only their earned per-check fee (see above); no bonds are slashed. Long-term participation terms, including slashing, will be revisited in Q1 2027 once real system data is available. Any update to Safenet require a successful SafeDAO proposal.
6. Alternative solutions
No rewards subsidy - Considered but not pursued.
Without subsidies, Safenet Aegis risks no Validator participation and a difficult pitch to Sentinels who face a cold start funding problem.
SEF-only funding - Considered but not pursued
While SEF may support ecosystem initiatives, Safenet is a SafeDAO-level token utility initiative and should be validated through SafeDAO governance.
7. Implementation
Timeline
- Aegis testnet integration with Sentinels running: live now on Sepolia
- Aegis network live on mainnet and Safe{Wallet}: targeted for Q4, 2026
- Safenet Aegis staking UI
- Beta Validators will be asked to transition by October 13th
- New Validator and Sentinel rewards start: from October 13th
- Reward distribution: begins after Snapshot ratification. Validator and Sentinel rewards calculated retroactively from October 13th and distributed every 2 weeks, on the same cadence as SEP-55.
Resourcing
Own implementation possible
Own implementation but with funding
Request for technical support through Safe matter experts
8. Effects and impact analysis
Effects of this Proposal
- ~7,400,000 SAFE tokens will be transferred from the SafeDAO treasury to a dedicated, DAO-controlled Safe for Rewards Distribution for distribution over 12 months period.
- A live, integration to Safe{Wallet} with fees distributed to Sentinels in Q4, 2026, whilst the fee switch remains available to the DAO.
- Authorization for SEF to transfer ownership of the existing Beta rewards-distribution contract to the new Reward Distribution Safe upon proposal approval.
Pros
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Continues the SEP-21 and SEP-23 mandates on staking and security abstraction that SafeDAO has already voted for.
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SAFE token utility extends as fees have been implemented via the introduction of Sentinels and a fee switch may, subject to applicable law and a separate SafeDAO decision, be enabled by the DAO.
Cons
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Treasury cost for a second consecutive phase.
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Validator set remains permissioned throughout, extending the Beta
centralisation trust assumption by a further 12 months.
Risks
- Validators falling below the 75% threshold and Sentinels dropping out of operation due economic/technical challenges.
9. Governance process and compliance
This proposal is submitted on behalf of the Safe Ecosystem Foundation represented by the Foundation Council, and is intended to comply with SafeDAO governance requirements, including:
- forum discussion period
- snapshot vote
- SEF compliance requirements for treasury execution
- Basic sanctions screening of reward recipient addresses against the UN, EU, UK, Swiss SECO, and US OFAC lists published by sanctions-address-lists.
- Extended sanctions screening for rewards recipients above CHF 10,000 per rewards period.
This proposal follows the standard SEP-7 governance process as amended by SEP-53, which removed sprint-type restrictions and allows any proposal to be submitted in any sprint. Given that no active governance season calendar has been in effect during the SEP-54 pause period, this proposal is submitted independently of a specific sprint cycle. It will go through the full SEP-7 process: forum discussion, maturity signaling by three delegates or Guardians holding a combined minimum of 60,000 SAFE, and a Snapshot vote including a “Make no changes” option. The Foundation Council members named in the disclaimers section will abstain from both signaling and voting.
10. Disclaimers
The Validators were determined based on technical expertise, pro-active outreach, as well as ability to show sufficient token holdings in order to provide the minimum stake of 3.5M tokens. SafeDAO can update the Validator set via the usual governance process.
Safe Labs GmbH, Berlin, is a wholly owned subsidiary of SEF and the operator of Safe Wallet by Safe Labs interface, which creates a potential conflict of interest. The Foundation and its foundation council members will abstain from voting on this proposal.
Stefan George is a member of the SEF foundation council and founder of Gnosis who is running a Safenet Beta validator which creates a potential conflict of interest. GnosisDAO as largest Safe token holders is considered as legitimized to be a running one of the initial Validators. Stefan will abstain from voting on this proposal.
Richard Meißner is a member of the SEF foundation council and shareholder of Core Contributors GmbH, Berlin, which creates a potential conflict of interest. Core Contributors worked on Safenet Beta based on a grant agreement and is therefore considered to be invaluable in gaining first-hand experience in operating a validator. Richard will abstain from voting on this proposal.
The minimum validator stake amount of 3.5M SAFE applies to all Validators alike.
The Sentinels were determined based on technical expertise, pro-active outreach, and the ability to partake in earlier testnets. SafeDAO can update the Sentinel set via the usual governance process.
11. Open questions
None
12. Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.
For those that want to listen to the proposal I