TL;DR
Ethena Labs has reached a major milestone in its expansion strategy by securing a listing for its digital dollar, USDe, on Binance. This move marks a pivotal moment for the DeFi protocol, unlocking new trading opportunities and triggering key mechanisms within its ecosystem. With USDe now available on one of the world’s largest exchanges, Ethena is poised to accelerate adoption and activate its long-awaited ENA fee switch.
On September 9, Binance officially listed Ethena’s USDe stablecoin, enabling trading through USDE/USDC and USDE/USDT pairs. Deposits opened ahead of the launch, while withdrawals became available on September 10. The listing comes with zero BNB fees, lowering the barrier for new users to engage with the token. USDe, backed by BTC, ETH, and stablecoins, has already surpassed $12 billion in supply, making it the largest non-fiat-backed digital dollar in circulation.
The Binance listing has triggered the activation of Ethena’s ENA fee switch, a mechanism designed to share protocol profits with token holders. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, confirmed that the switch unlocks $500 million in potential token buybacks. Ethena had previously outlined three conditions for activation: USDe’s circulating supply exceeding $6 billion, cumulative revenue reaching $250 million, and listings on four of the top five CEXs. With all criteria now met, the fee switch is officially live.
Following the announcement, ENA surged 5% in 24 hours, reaching $0.81, its highest level since January. The market responded enthusiastically, with analysts and community members celebrating the milestone. Jason Choi, co-founder of tangentxyz, confirmed that all conditions for the fee switch had been satisfied, further fueling investor optimism. The activation of the buyback mechanism is expected to drive sustained interest in ENA as Ethena continues to scale.
Ethena Labs is also deepening its ecosystem through strategic collaborations. It partnered with Based to integrate USDe into the Hyperliquid ecosystem and announced that Stablecoin X raised $530 million to accumulate more ENA. Additionally, MegaETH launched its first native stablecoin, USDm, in partnership with Ethena.
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