USDtb price

Written by: Ponyo :: FP, FourPillarsFP Researcher Compilation: Groove Little Deep Editor's note: Ethena maintains USDe, a $5 billion stablecoin with a market capitalization team, with a team of 26 people, hedging the volatility of assets such as ETH and BTC through a delta-neutral strategy, keeping the $1 peg while providing double-digit annualized returns. Its automated risk management and multi-platform hedging built a moat to successfully deal with market shocks and the Bybit hack. Ethena plans to drive 25 billion USDe in circulation through iUSDe, the Converge Chain, and the Telegram app, becoming a financial hub connecting DeFi, CeFi, and TradFi. The following is the original content (the original content has been edited for ease of reading and comprehension): Have you ever tried a roller coaster ride while eating hot noodles? It sounds outrageous, but that's exactly what @ethena_labs does every day is the best metaphor for: it maintains a $5 billion stablecoin (USDe) that has always been pegged to $1, despite the volatility of the crypto market. And all this is made possible by a team of 26 people led by founder @gdog97_. In this article, we'll take a deep dive into Ethena's unique secrets, reveal why it's so hard to replicate, and explain how Ethena plans to push USDe into circulation to $25 billion. Hedge against billions of volatility Stablecoins look boring on the surface: $1 is $1, right? But dig deeper into the inner workings of Ethena and you'll see that it's not that simple at all. Instead of backing stablecoins with U.S. dollars in the bank, Ethena has adopted a robust portfolio of assets, including ETH, BTC, SOL, ETH LSTs (liquid staking tokens), and $1.44 billion worth of USDtb (a stable asset backed by U.S. Treasuries). These assets are continuously shorted in the major derivatives markets to ensure that any fluctuations in the price of the collateral are offset by the corresponding profit and loss of the short position. Source: Ethena Transparency Dashboard If ETH rises by 5% and your hedge ratio is skewed, it could lead to tens of millions of dollars in exposure. If the market crashes at 3 a.m., the risk engine must immediately rebalance the collateral or close the position. Minimal margin for error. However, Ethena manages billions of daily hedges in the 2023-2024 roller coaster market without a single crash (no decoupling, no margin liquidation, no shortage of funds). During the Bybit hack, Ethena remained solvent and did not lose any collateral. While a traditional hedge fund might require an entire floor of analysts and traders to handle this volatility, Ethena has managed to do so with a lean team and zero mistakes. Within months of its launch, Ethena became the largest counterparty to a number of centralized exchanges. Its hedging transactions even affected liquidity and order book depth, but few noticed that stablecoins "just work". About High Yields: Ethena offers double-digit annualized yields when the market is bullish. At first, this was reminiscent of Terra/LUNA and its 20% Anchor tragedy. But the difference is that Ethena's yield comes from real market inefficiencies (staking rewards plus positive perpetual contract funding rates, etc.), rather than minting tokens or unsustainable subsidies. How Ethena's Delta neutral magic works When a user deposits $1,000 in ETH, they can mint about $1,000 in USDe. The protocol automatically opens a short futures position. If the price of ETH falls, the short position makes a profit, offsetting the collateral loss; If ETH rises, the short loses money, but the collateral appreciates. The end result is that the net dollar value remains stable. At the same time, when the perpetual contract market is over-leveraged in the long direction, Ethena (holding short) can charge a funding fee, thus providing USDe with a double-digit APY under bullish conditions without the need for financial subsidies. Ethena spreads these hedges across Binance, Bybit, OKX, and even some decentralized perpetual contract protocols to circumvent the risks and margin limits of a single exchange. A recent governance proposal revealed that Ethena plans to include Hyperliquid in its hedging portfolio, taking short positions in the most liquid markets. By diversifying short positions, Ethena reduces its reliance on a single platform, further enhancing stability. Source: Ethena Transparency Dashboard In response to the ongoing adjustments, Ethena deployed automated bots to work in tandem with the trading team (similar to a high-frequency trading system) to continuously rebalance the entire multi-platform ledger. That's why USDe stays anchored no matter how volatile the market is. Finally, the protocol employs overcollateralization to deal with extreme declines and can suspend minting under unsafe conditions. Custodial integrations (Copper, Fireblocks) allow Ethena to control assets in real-time, rather than leaving them in hot wallets on the exchange. If the exchange goes bankrupt, Ethena can quickly withdraw collateral, protecting users from the catastrophe of a single point of failure. Solid moat Ethena's approach seems replicable on paper (hedging some crypto assets, charging funding fees, making profits), but in reality, the protocol has built a strong moat that deters copycats. A key obstacle is trust and credit lines: Ethena hedges billions of dollars through institutional transactions with custodians and major trading platforms (Binance Ceffu, OKX). Most small projects do not have easy access to these institutions to negotiate minimum intra-exchange collateralization requirements for multimillion-dollar short positions, which requires legal, compliance, and operational institutional-grade rigor. Equally important is multi-platform risk management. Splitting large hedges across multiple exchanges requires real-time analytics that rivals Wall Street's quantitative trading teams. Yes, anyone can replicate delta hedging on a small scale, but scaling up to $5 billion (and rebalancing huge collateral around the clock across multiple platforms) is another level. The required analytics, automation, and complexity of credit relationships grow exponentially with scale, and new entrants will hardly be able to catch up with Ethena's scale overnight. At the same time, Ethena does not rely on perpetual free earnings. If the perpetual contract funding rate turns negative, it will reduce its short position and rely on staking or stablecoin yields. Reserve funds cushion periods of long-term negative funding rates, while many high-yield DeFi protocols collapse when music stops. By not holding all collateral directly on a single exchange, Ethena further reduces counterparty risk; Instead, assets are stored in a custodian. If a trading platform is unstable, Ethena can quickly close the position and transfer the collateral off-exchange, ensuring minimal risk of catastrophic failure. Finally, Ethena's performance in the face of extreme volatility cemented its moat. USDe has not seen a single decoupling or crash during months of intense market volatility. This reliability drives new user adoption, listings, and top-tier brokerage deals (from Securitize to BlackRock and Franklin Templeton), creating a snowball effect of trust that cannot be replicated. Talking about the gap between delta hedging and round-the-clock delivery on billions scale is what makes Ethena stand out. The road to 25 billion Ethena's growth strategy relies on a self-reinforcing ecosystem where the currency (USDe), the network (the "Converge" chain), and the exchange/liquidity aggregation evolve simultaneously. USDe was the first to launch, driven by crypto-native demand from DeFi (Aave, Pendle, Morpho) and CeFi (Bybit, OKX). The next phase involves iUSDe, a compliant version suitable for banks, funds, and corporate treasury. Even a small fraction of the vast bond market of traditional finance (TradFi) flows into USDe, potentially pushing stablecoins in circulation to 25 billion or more. Driving this growth is the arbitrage between on-chain funding rates and traditional interest rates. As long as there is a significant yield gap, money will flow from the low-interest rate market to the high-interest rate market until it reaches equilibrium. As a result, USDe becomes a hub that connects crypto yields with macro benchmarks. Source: Ethena 2025: Convergence At the same time, Ethena is developing a Telegram-based app that will bring high-yield USD savings to regular users and hundreds of millions of users to sUSDe through a user-friendly interface. On the infrastructure side, the Converge Chain weaves together DeFi and CeFi tracks, and each new integration will bring cyclical growth to USDe's liquidity and utility. Notably, sUSDe's returns are negatively correlated with real interest rates, with funding yields jumping from around 8% to over 20% when the Fed cut rates by 75bps in Q4 2024, highlighting how lower macro rates are fueling Ethena's earning potential. This is not a slow, phased progression, but a circular expansion: broader adoption enhances USDe's liquidity and earning potential, which in turn attracts larger institutions, driving further supply growth and a more solid anchor. Looking to the future Ethena isn't the first stablecoin to promise high yields or position itself as an innovative approach. The difference is that it has delivered on its promises, and USDe has remained firmly anchored at $1 despite the most violent shocks to the market. Behind the scenes, it operates like a high-level institution, shorting perpetual futures and managing pledged collateral. However, what ordinary holders experience is a stable, income-bearing dollar, which is simple and easy to use. Scaling from 5 billion to 25 billion is not an easy task. Heightened scrutiny by regulators, greater counterparty exposure, and a potential liquidity crunch could introduce new risks. However, Ethena's multi-asset collateral (including $1.44 billion USDtb), robust automation, and robust risk management show that it is better equipped to cope than most projects. Ultimately, Ethena demonstrated a way to navigate the volatility of the crypto market at a staggering scale using a delta-neutral strategy. It outlines a vision for the future: USDe will be at the heart of every financial sector, from DeFi's permissionless frontier, CeFi's trading desk, to TradFi's massive bond market.

Recently, the United States passed the Stablecoin Act (GENIUS Act), providing a significant regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry. The act clarifies the legal status of stablecoins, defining them as payment instruments rather than securities, and limits the possibility of the SEC and federal banking institutions classifying them as securities products. This promotes the widespread adoption of stablecoins within the financial system. ENA (Ethena), as an innovative project in the stablecoin sector, aligns with multiple aspects of the U.S. Stablecoin Act. Its products, USDe and USDtb, are expected to gain significant development opportunities under this new regulatory environment. Filling the compliance stablecoin yield gap, USDe emerges as a potential beneficiary Following the passage of the Stablecoin Act, the market is expected to experience substantial growth. However, traditional compliant stablecoins (such as USDT and USDC) are typically backed by low-risk assets (e.g., bank deposits or short-term government bonds) and cannot directly provide yields to holders. ENA’s USDe generates returns through Ethereum staking and derivatives markets, offering users a stable source of passive income. Ethena Staked USDe (sUSDe) is currently priced at $1.17, with a 24-hour trading volume of $11.4 million, indicating strong market interest. USDe utilizes the "Internet Bond" mechanism, achieving yields through Ethereum staking and hedging strategies, filling the gap left by compliant stablecoins that cannot generate income. With the act driving increased demand for stablecoins, USDe’s yield attributes position it to attract more users seeking stable returns, making it a potential beneficiary of this growth wave. Decentralization and compliance in parallel: ENA’s dual advantage The Stablecoin Act emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity and decentralized mechanisms, requiring issuers to take measures to protect user assets from hacking. ENA’s USDe operates on Ethereum, leveraging ZK-Rollup and decentralized oracle networks to ensure transaction efficiency and data transparency. This decentralized architecture aligns closely with the act’s requirements for security and transparency. Meanwhile, ENA demonstrates its compliance capabilities through USDtb. The dual-track approach of USDe and USDtb enables ENA to strike a balance between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi), securing a position in the market growth driven by the act. The passage of the U.S. Stablecoin Act (GENIUS Act) provides a clear regulatory framework and growth opportunities for the stablecoin market. ENA, with USDe’s yield attributes and USDtb’s compliance advantages, aligns closely with the regulatory trends of the act. USDe fills the gap left by compliant stablecoins that cannot generate income, while USDtb meets the act’s requirements for transparency and security. ENA’s dual-track strategy allows it to balance decentralization and compliance, positioning it as a key beneficiary in the market growth driven by the act.

The stablecoin market grew by $30B in 2025 to reach $232B – ➡️ $USDT & $USDC dominate with 89% combined share. ➡️ $USDT dropped from 68% to 62% due to MiCA-related delistings. ➡️ $USDC rose to 26%. ➡️ $USDS & $USDtb led growth among yield-bearing stables, adding over $4B. ➡️ $USDtb exploded from $89M to $1.4B. Get a full sector overview: Data via: @RWA_xyz

By Tim Craig & Sheldon Reback, CoinDesk authors Compilation: Groove small deep   Editor's note: DeFi savings protocol Sky (formerly MakerDAO) lost $5 million in the first quarter of 2025, in stark contrast to a profit of $31 million in the previous quarter. The loss was mainly due to an incentive to use the new stablecoin USDS instead of DAI, which led to a 102% surge in interest payments. Although USDS aims to attract sophisticated investors, its user base is growing uncertainly, and protocol earnings are being dragged down by high interest rates. The following is the original content (the original content has been edited for ease of reading and comprehension): TL; DR DeFi savings protocol Sky (formerly MakerDAO) posted a loss of $5 million in the first quarter, a sharp decline from the previous quarter's profit of $31 million. To incentivize users to use the new stablecoin USDS instead of DAI, the protocol increased interest payments to depositors by 102%. Despite the launch of USDS to attract sophisticated investors, it is unclear whether Sky's user base has significantly expanded. Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky (original image courtesy of Trevor Jones) DeFi savings protocol Sky lost $5 million in the first quarter due to more than doubling interest payments to token holders, according to a report by Sky contributor Steakhouse Financial. This loss is in stark contrast to the previous quarter, when Sky posted a profit of $31 million. The 102% increase in interest payments is due to the protocol's decision to incentivize users to use the newer Sky USD stablecoin (USDS) instead of the existing DAI. "Sky savings rates remain at 12.5%, which is very high relative to the rest of the market, attracting a lot of inflows," Sky co-founder Rune Christensen told CoinDesk via Telegram. When Sky cut interest rates to 4.5% in February, many investors still chose to stay, he said. This situation is a double-edged sword for the protocol, which was one of the first decentralized finance applications to emerge on Ethereum in 2017. Sky operates similarly to a traditional bank. It entails lending to others at a higher interest rate than is paid to depositors. However, offering higher interest rates without a corresponding increase in demand for USDS is hurting the profitability of the protocol, PaperImperium, a governance liaison at blockchain research and development firm GFX Labs, told CoinDesk via Telegram. "USDS is a significant drag on earnings," he said. "DAI makes money, USDS doesn't." The push for USDS is part of what Sky calls the "Endgame Plan," led by Christensen, which aims to transform the protocol into a more decentralized and resilient system. Don't have a new need? When Sky changed its name from MakerDAO and launched USDS in August as part of the endgame plan, the plan was that the new stablecoin would appeal to a different user base than DAI. Designed to be more compliant with regulatory and financial reporting requirements, USDS aims to attract hedge funds, family offices, and other sophisticated institutional investors looking to get their hands dirty with decentralized finance. But it's unclear if USDS is attracting a lot of new users. The returns available to investors on USDS and DAI are different: USDS pays a yield of 4.5%, while DAI is 2.75%. Many investors swapped DAI for USDS, which means Sky needs to pay more to users who were previously content with lower yields or even no yields, PaperImperium said. The total amount of USDS and DAI has increased by 57% since the beginning of the quarter, according to the report. But a large part of this growth came from the synthetic dollar protocol Ethena, which invested more than $450 million in staked USDS and passed the proceeds to users who stook their own stablecoin, USDe. Over the past week, Ethena has shifted some of its reserves from USDS to USDtb, a stablecoin backed by BlackRock's U.S. Dollar Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). This means less USDS in circulation. But this could also benefit Sky by reducing the amount of interest that the agreement must pay.

DeFi savings protocol Sky posted a first-quarter loss of $5 million after interest payments to token holders more than doubled, according to a report created by Sky contributors from Steakhouse Financial. The loss is a stark turnaround from the previous quarter, when Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, registered a $31 million profit. The reason for the 102% increase in interest payments is the decision to incentivize use of the protocol's newer Sky dollar stablecoin (USDS) over the existing DAI. "The Sky Savings Rate was kept very high at 12.5% relative to the rest of the market, driving massive inflows" Rune Christensen, co-founder of Sky, told CoinDesk over Telegram. When Sky began lowering interest rates to 4.5% in February, a lot of investors stuck around, he said. The situation is a double-edged sword for the protocol, which was among the first cohort of decentralized finance apps to spring up on Ethereum in 2017. Sky operates similar to a traditional bank. It needs to lend to others at a rate higher than it pays its savers. However, offering higher rates on USDS without a corresponding increase in demand for the stablecoin is hurting the protocol’s profitability, PaperImperium, governance liaison at blockchain research and development company GFX Labs, told CoinDesk over Telegram. "USDS is a major drag on earnings," he said. "DAI makes money. USDS, not so much." The push toward USDS is part of Sky’s so-called Endgame plan, an initiative led by Christensen aimed at transforming the protocol into a more decentralized and resilient system. No new demand? When Sky rebranded from MakerDAO and launched USDS in August as part of Endgame, the plan was that the new stablecoin would appeal to a different set of users than DAI. USDS was designed to better comply with regulations and financial reporting requirements. It was targeted toward sophisticated investors like hedge funds, family offices and other institutions looking to dip their toes into decentralized finance. But it’s unclear if USDS has been able to attract a substantial number of new users. The returns investors can earn on USDS comapred to DAI is different: USDS pays out 4.5%, while DAI yields 2.75%. Many investors swapped their DAI for USDS, meaning Sky had pay out more to people who previously were happy to earn a lower yield or, in many cases, no yield at all, PaperImperium said. To be sure, the report said the combined supply of USDS and DAI has increased 57% since the start of the quarter. But a large part of this increase is from Ethena, the synthetic dollar protocol. It has piled over $450 million into staked USDS, and passes the yield on to those who stake its own stablecoin, USDe. Over the past week, Ethena has switched some of its reserves from USDS to USDtb — a stablecoin backed by BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, or BUIDL. The move means there’s less USDS in circulation. But it may also benefit Sky by reducing the amount of interest the protocol must pay out. Read more: MakerDAO's Christensen Hopes for 'Firm Decision' as MKR Holders Vote on Sky Brand