- Ethena raised $100 million in a private ENA token sale, attracting major investors like Franklin Templeton and F-Prime Capital.
- Ethena plans to launch iUSDe, a stablecoin designed for financial institutions, offering wrapped contracts with transfer limits and fixed-income portfolio suitability.
Among the numerous projects contending for investors’ attention, Ethena has emerged as a force to be reckoned with. This initiative seems ready to upend the sector with big financing and a daring new approach.
Ethena’s Bold Move: A New Blockchain and Institutional Token
According to Bloomberg, Ethena has closed a $100 million private sale of ENA tokens in December 2024. Given most of the industry is still confronting significant difficulties, this sum is definitely not a minor one. Big names like Franklin Templeton and F-Prime Capital, which amply illustrates how high investors’ faith in Ethena’s future, were involved in the funding.
With that money, what will they do? Ethena, it turns out, is not content to play within the confines of traditional decentralisation. They intend to create their own blockchain and release a particular coin meant for traditional financial companies. Given most cryptocurrency initiatives still center on retail customers, this is somewhat a brave action.
Asset Security: Learning from Other Projects’ Downfalls
Regarding crypto finance, the first concern that always surfaces is, “Are the assets safe?” Ethena seems to grasp this worry. The CNF report reveals that Ethena keeps their USDe assets using off-exchange custodian solutions such as Copper Clearloop. Stated differently, their assets are not quite vulnerable to the risks of trading platforms such as Bybit.
Still, there is one fascinating observation. Ethena still has about $30 million in derivative exposure on Bybit notwithstanding these security precautions. The good news is that their reserves sufficiently offset this possible danger. Stated differently, they have a really large canopy even if the market is stormy.
New Stablecoin: USDtb and Its Backing from BlackRock
As if that wasn’t enough, Ethena has also just introduced a new stablecoin called USDtb. What makes it interesting is not just the presence of a new stablecoin but also who is behind it. USDtb is backed by BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), which provides additional assurance regarding its stability.
USDtb is now available on multiple networks such as Ethereum, Base, Solana, and Arbitrum. With this wide coverage, Ethena wants to ensure that USDe remains stable even during volatile markets. It is a kind of ‘safety belt’ for investors who want to stay in the Ethena ecosystem without having to worry about extreme volatility.
ENA Price Holds Steady as Ethena Prepares for iUSDe Launch
For those who are curious about the price performance of ENA, the token is trading at about $0.4062 as of press time. Although the increase is slight, around 0.16% over the last 24 hours, there are still many eyes watching its movements.
On the other hand, Ethena is also preparing to launch iUSDe, a special version of the USDe stablecoin designed to be more suitable for financial institutions. iUSDe has additional features such as wrapped contracts that allow for transfer restrictions. In addition, this stablecoin is designed to be suitable for fixed-income portfolios by offering annualized yields of up to 20%.
So where does Ethena go next? With a large fund, increasingly tight asset security, and an ambitious stablecoin expansion, the project seems to be planning something much bigger.
