Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin USDe can benefit from incorporating UStb during periods of weak funding conditions, Ethena Labs said.
Ethena Labs’ USDe, a synthetic dollar stablecoin, has garnered significant community adoption, propelling it to become the fourth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization. This achievement comes at a notable juncture, as the stablecoin surpassed the entire Solana blockchain in revenue generation within the past week. USDe supply crosses $3 billion According to data from CryptoSlate, the […]
The post Ethena USDe overtakes Solana in revenue, hits $3 billion market cap appeared first on CryptoSlate.
In a post on X, one analyst now claims traditional fiat-backed stablecoins like USDT and USDC should prepare for a “major” attack due to the increasing popularity of Ethena’s USDe. The warning follows Ethena and USDe’s integration with Bybit, a crypto exchange allowing perpetual trading. Ethena Partners With ByBit USDe is not fiat-backed like other popular stablecoins. […]
Ethena's USDe tokenized yield strategy has attracted over $2 billion in deposits and some scrutiny of the token's risks.
"A lot of things can go wrong," in Ethena's yield-generation strategy, said Folkvang CEO Mike van Rossum.
The move allows users to earn Ethena USDe yields directly from Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Bitget wallets.
Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments, has sparked significant interest and debate within the cryptocurrency community. He heralded Ethena (ENA) as “the Luna of this cycle,” but with a crucial difference: its economic fundamentals are deemed sustainable. Edwards elaborated, “It’s 100% collateralized and the yield is variable based on market forces. Two things Luna wasn’t.” He also noted that at its zenith, Luna’s valuation exceeded ENA’s current market cap by more than twenty-fold, yet he cautioned, “ENA is not risk-free, custody and execution risk exist.” Ethena is the Luna of this cycle, except the underlying economics are actually sustainable. It's 100% collateralized and the yield is variable based on market forces. Two things Luna wasn't. At it's peak LUNA was over 20X bigger than what ENA is now. ENA is not risk free, custody… — Charles Edwards (@caprioleio) April 10, 2024 Since its launch on April 2, ENA has seen a meteoric rise from under $0.30 to a high of $1.45. This rally is largely attributed to Ethena Labs’ strategic enhancement of its rewards program, now in its “Season 2,” which offers a 50% reward boost for users locking their ENA tokens for at least seven days. This move aims to bolster user engagement and loyalty, fostering a sustainable ecosystem for the Ethena platform. Related Reading: Ethena’s (ENA) Crucial Role In Bitcoin Bull Market: Expert Identifies Critical Factors For Sustainable Growth A remarkable aspect of this ecosystem is the rapid growth of its stablecoin, USDe, which has outstripped the supply growth of established counterparts such as USDT, USDC, and DAI, reaching a $2 billion supply in just over 100 days. USDe is the fastest growing USD denominated asset in the history of crypto pic.twitter.com/xgiRJjf96t — G | Ethena (@leptokurtic_) April 8, 2024 However, the project’s high yields which are generated by harnessing the derivative markets and staked Ethereum have stirred skepticism among industry experts. Fantom founder Andre Cronje, among others, has raised concerns about the sustainability of these yields, which are the highest in the entire crypto industry. Risks Involved With Ethena Noteworthy, ENA is often compared to Terra Luna (LUNA), but the differences could not be much bigger, as Edwards also noted. While ENA is not risk free, a demise like the one of LUNA is highly unlikely. Despite that, investors need to be aware of other risks involved with ENA. Diving deeper into the discussion of risks, CL (@CL207) from eGirl Capital offers an intriguing perspective on the behavior of derivatives traders. She clarifies, “It appears Ethena is making many people who don’t trade derivatives have a really hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that derivatives traders are so genuinely retarded that we’re willing to pay like 50%+ APR to enter a position.” Related Reading: Ethena (ENA) Surges 60%, But Fantom Co-Founder Warns Of Luna-Like Demise Notably, last cycle crypto traders were bidding futures so high that Bitcoin quarterlies earned “a locked-in >50% apr. She added, “just 50 days into 2021, we collectively paid 2,400,000,000$ in funding rates by the end of 2021, the market has paid as much as a decently sized country’s GDP.” Monetsupply.eth (@MonetSupply) from Block Analitica provides a granular analysis of the risks Andre Cronje highlighted. Through his examination, several key areas of concern are outlined: Oracle Risk: The potential impact on exchange positions due to Ethena providing inaccurate quotes on minting or redeeming operations. However, MonetSupply notes, “there’s rate limits on this tho so max loss is constrained and counterparties are all whitelisted (can’t just run away with the money).” Liquidation Risk: Deemed not a significant factor as the portfolio is leveraged less than 1x, suggesting a conservative approach to borrowing and leverage. Spread Risk: The possibility of increased basis leading to higher funding revenue, which should theoretically attract inflows. Conversely, a negative basis might cause outflows, but Ethena could benefit from closing hedged positions profitably. Collateral Ratio Risk: Even though liquid staking tokens (LSTs) are given less than 100% weight on centralized exchanges (CEX), the overall low leverage mitigates this risk. The proportion of LST in spot collateral is relatively minor. Custody Risk: Highlighted as one of the more significant concerns, given the reliance on custodians with a good track record and the distribution of assets across multiple entities. Exchange Solvency Risk: This risk could lead to the loss of unsettled profit and loss (PnL) and some trading costs to rehedge on other exchanges. However, MonetSupply adds, “the Binance/ceffu nexus might change this assessment though, are they actually independent?” Ethena Entity Risk: The internal risk related to Ethena’s keys or authentication tokens being compromised, or a team member acting maliciously. MonetSupply concludes that despite these risks, the framework of overcollateralization on platforms like Morpho, the Maker surplus buffer, and the MKR backstop, supported by a substantial Proof of Liquidity (POL), serves as a robust mitigating factor. At press time, ENA traded at $1.329. Featured image from Bitget, chart from TradingView.com
The recent volatility in the Bitcoin (BTC) price and its struggle to consolidate above the $70,000 mark has raised questions about the sustainability of its ongoing bull run. However, market expert Charles Edwards, co-founder of Capriole Invest, believes that the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ethena Labs (ENA) could significantly extend and boost Bitcoin’s bull market to new heights. In a recent post on social media site X (formerly Twitter), Edwards suggested that Ethena’s actions, such as constraining over-leverage in derivatives markets and reducing spot supply, can propel Bitcoin’s price higher for a longer period. Bitcoin Bull Market Boost To provide further context as to why Edwards is suggesting this possibility, on April 4th, Ethena Labs announced its intention to engage in a cash-and-carry trade involving Bitcoin. According to the protocol’s announcement, Ethena Labs can manage risk and provide a more stable backing for its product by buying and shorting Bitcoin. Related Reading: Solana Open Interest Drops $370 Million Amid Network Troubles, $200 Still Possible? One of the key factors Edwards highlights is Ethena’s ability to constrain over-leverage in Bitcoin derivatives markets. By doing so, Ethena aims to prevent excessive risk-taking and potential market instability. Additionally, Ethena’s taking spot supply off the market can reduce selling pressure, thus supporting Bitcoin’s price and prolonging the bull market. The protocol also noted that Bitcoin derivative markets offer superior scalability and liquidity compared to Ethereum (ETH). This characteristic reportedly makes Bitcoin a suitable asset for delta hedging, a risk management strategy employed by Ethena. With $25 billion of Bitcoin open interest available for Ethena to delta hedge, the capacity for its synthetic dollar product, USDe, to scale has increased significantly. Ethena Labs noted in their announcement the following: In just 1 year, BTC open interest on major exchanges (exc. CME) has grown from $10bn to $25bn, while ETH OI has grown from $5 to $10bn BTC derivative markets are growing at a faster pace than ETH and offer better scalability and liquidity for delta hedging Weighing The Risks While Edwards’ statement is optimistic about Ethena’s impact on Bitcoin’s bull market, one user raised concerns about potential downsides. Edwards acknowledges that execution risks, such as custody failure or delta neutrality failure, could have adverse effects. Edwards identifies custody risk as the most significant risk in this context. However, he highlights that any negative impacts will likely be short-lived, and market forces will ultimately dictate Ethena’s net annual percentage yield (APY). Related Reading: Bitcoin To $150,000 Is “Programmed” With Halving Approaching: Analyst In short, by limiting over-leveraging in future markets and reducing spot supply, Ethena could significantly support the price of BTC and extend the current bull run. Currently, BTC’s price has experienced a significant decline, plummeting to the $68,800 level. This marks a 4.3% decrease compared to Monday’s price. In parallel, Ethena’s native token, ENA, has also followed the overall downtrend of the market, reflecting BTC’s price movement with a 4% decrease. Presently, ENA is trading at $1.22. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin’s rally is likely influenced by persistent inflation, student debt forgiveness policies, and global trade restrictions.
ENA, the native token of Ethena Labs, surged by 15% on Monday following the announcement of "season 2," which includes a 50% increase in rewards for some users.
Andre Cronje warns that while "things are going great now" such a momentum in the crypto space would eventually turn.
Ethena Labs’s synthetic dollar could grow to become the third-largest asset among stablecoins, thanks to its competitive yield, according to Delphi Labs’ José Maria Macedo.
Ethena Labs’ new governance token, ENA, is witnessing a staggering 60% increase in its value, shortly after its introduction to the market. The spike in ENA’s price to approximately $0.96 has catapulted its market capitalization to nearly $1.34 billion, ranking ENA as the 80th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. This ascent followed Ethena’s strategic distribution of 750 million ENA tokens, representing 5% of its total supply, through an airdrop to holders of its USDe token. The USDe, a synthetic dollar, is central to Ethena’s offering, leveraging a blend of ether liquid staking tokens and short Ether (ETH) perpetual futures positions to maintain a target value near $1. The Ethena Labs airdrop went live 2 hours ago, with $450M of ENA to distribute. The largest $ENA recipient so far has been 0xb56, who received 3.30M ENA worth $1.96M. Track ENA on Arkham:https://t.co/coFsTcBUCa https://t.co/RSZwXLhCB6 pic.twitter.com/l6c7bqKghG — Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) April 2, 2024 At the heart of Ethena’s value proposition is the ENA token, engineered to facilitate a digital dollar platform on the Ethereum blockchain. This platform seeks to provide a viable alternative to conventional banking mechanisms through its innovative ‘Internet Bond’. By harnessing the potential of derivative markets and staked Ethereum, the Internet Bond offers a dollar-denominated savings instrument accessible globally, independent of traditional banking infrastructure. Related Reading: MakerDAO Initiates Massive $600 Million DAI Investment In USDe And sUSDe The total supply of ENA tokens is capped at 15 billion, with an initial issuance of 1.425 billion tokens. The distribution plan prioritizes ecosystem development (30%), core contributor rewards (30%), investor engagement (25%), and foundation support (15%), embodying a holistic approach to tokenomics. Notably, Binance’s endorsement of ENA as the 50th project on its Binance Launchpool, enabling users to farm ENA tokens by staking BNB and FDUSD, underscores the token’s appeal. At press time, ENA traded at $0.93, up 60% in the past 24 hours. Fantom Co-Founder Warns Of Luna-Like Collapse Andre Cronje, co-founder of the Fantom Foundation, issued a warning on X, recalling the concerns that preceded the collapse of Terra Luna. Cronje dissected the structure of perpetual contracts (perps), a derivative product that enables traders to speculate on the price movement of an asset without holding the actual asset. This mechanism operates on a system of funding rates meant to tether the perpetual price closely to the underlying asset’s spot price. However, Cronje highlighted a critical vulnerability in this system: the reliance on yield-generating assets, such as staked Ethereum (stETH), as collateral. Related Reading: Fantom (FTM) Jumps 180% In 4 Weeks: Just The Beginning? This approach theoretically allows for a “neutral” position, where the gains from yield should offset losses from the short position if the asset’s price drops. Yet, this equilibrium is precarious, as negative shifts in funding rates can erode the collateral, leading to liquidation. “The mechanism – the theory here is that you can generate a ‘stable’ $1000, by buying $1000 of stETH, using this as collateral to open a $1000 stETH short, thereby achieving being ‘neutral’, while getting the benefit of the stETH yield (~3%) + whatever is paid in funding rates,” Cronje explained. Cronje’s concerns are not unfounded. The crypto industry witnessed the dramatic implosion of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin UST in 2021, a debacle that resulted in significant financial losses across the board. By drawing a parallel between the structural weaknesses he perceives in Ethena’s framework and the mechanisms that led to Terra’s downfall, Cronje raises a red flag about the sustainability of complex financial products that lack transparent risk mitigation strategies. Every so often we see something new in this space. I often find myself on the mid curve for an extensive amount of time. I am comfortable here. That being said, there have been events in this industry I wish I was more curious about, there have also been events I definitely did… — Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) April 3, 2024 Responding to Cronje’s critique, the founder of Ethena Labs Guy Young aka Leptokurtic, acknowledged the validity of the concerns raised. “These aren’t mid curve concerns at all Andre Cronje, you rightly point out risks that absolutely do exist here. Will work on a longer form response for you by end of this week with some thoughts,” Young stated on X. Featured image from LinkedIn, chart from TradingView.com
The rally in the MNT token pushed the market cap of the blockchain to over $4 billion.
Ethena said an inaccurate news announcement was circulating.