The swift expansion of the Ethena stablecoin ecosystem progressed on Friday as Ethena Labs revealed a partnership with institutional OTC desk Flowdesk, focusing on enhancing accessibility to its two tokens — USDe and USDtb.
Flowdesk, serving clients that include token issuers, hedge funds, and exchanges, will facilitate trading and reward programs associated with both stablecoins, according to the companies.
USDe represents Ethena’s synthetic dollar, predominantly backed by crypto assets and stabilized through a delta-neutral hedging strategy, maintaining its value pegged to $1.
USDtb is supported by real-world assets — mainly BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, and stablecoins — offering a risk profile similar to fiat-backed stablecoins such as USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT).
The announcement comes as USDe exceeded $14 billion in market capitalization, as reported by CoinMarketCap, with its circulating supply increasing by 21% in the past month. This surge has positioned USDe as the third-largest stablecoin by market cap, following USDT and USDC.
Ethena ecosystem attracts public players
Ethena’s rapid ascent is partly driven by USDe’s yield-generation model, which enables holders to earn returns while providing appealing collateral for decentralized finance markets.
This yield potential was a significant factor in Mega Matrix’s $2 billion shelf registration, granting the public holding company the flexibility to acquire Ethena’s governance token, ENA. Holding ENA would permit Mega Matrix to engage in governance and benefit from revenue generated by USDe.
Ethena’s cumulative revenue surpassed $500 million in August, moving the protocol closer to initiating its expected “fee-switch” mechanism, designed to distribute a portion of protocol revenue to ENA holders.
Another soon-to-be public company is also eyeing Ethena. StablecoinX and TLGY Acquisition recently raised $890 million as part of a merger, with the new entity explicitly seeking acquisitions of digital assets — including ENA.
Despite its swift growth, Ethena has faced caution from market participants wary of derivatives-backed stablecoin models. Cointelegraph Research indicates that synthetic stablecoins encounter funding rate volatility, given that yields depend on positive funding rates, as well as counterparty risk and exposure to USDT-margined contracts.
The central question remains whether synthetic dollars can maintain resilience during prolonged periods of negative funding rates or stress in derivatives markets.
For the moment, USDe has surpassed these concerns, with demand continuing to rise as users seem willing to take on synthetic risk for yield.
Related: ‘Ethena has 6x upside to Circle’: Mega Matrix doubles down on ENA ecosystem
