Greenfield Capital files Swiss regulator complaint over Safe foundation governance
In brief
- Greenfield Capital filed a formal complaint with Switzerland's Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA).
- Complaint targets governance at the Zug-based Safe Ecosystem Foundation, which oversees SafeDAO.
- Greenfield alleges the board at times had only two members and resisted independent directors.
- Greenfield says it does not intend to sue individuals or take control of Safe.
What Greenfield asked for
Greenfield came in during Safe's 2022 financing round, and it says it hasn't sold a single SAFE token since. The foundation dates to that same year, when Safe spun off from Gnosis (it was set up to oversee governance and the treasury of SafeDAO and related initiatives).
The firm's asks were specific. It wanted the board restructured with independent directors added, plus a full review of Safe's strategy, product, organization and tokenomics, with measurable KPIs attached.
Greenfield says the foundation's answer fell short of that. Instead, it set up a strategy committee with no decision-making power and filled existing board vacancies.
The allegations
The complaint alleges statutory shortfalls at the foundation, including that its board at times had only two members. Greenfield also says the foundation resisted appointing independent directors or bringing in outside expertise, despite calls from stakeholders.
Board member Stefan George sits at the center of the dispute. He's also CTO of Gnosis, which offers wallet products that compete with Safe, and Greenfield has cited that overlap as a conflict-of-interest concern.
These are Greenfield's allegations, not findings.
This article doesn't include a response from the Safe Ecosystem Foundation, George or Gnosis.
Assets and intent
Crypto Briefing reported that assets held in Safe fell from approximately $6.6 billion in early 2024 to around $3 billion. Over roughly the same period, defi total value locked rose by around 40% and stablecoin supply expanded by roughly 135%, per the same report. Those numbers on their own don't explain why Safe's assets declined, and nothing here suggests the governance dispute caused it.
Greenfield's stated goal is narrower than a takeover. The firm says it doesn't intend to sue any individuals or take control of Safe, and it wants to stay a constructive participant in the ecosystem.
