Key highlights:
- Ether.fi is launching a branded stablecoin using Ethena’s infrastructure for issuance, redemptions, and compliance.
- Ether.fi owns the customer-facing brand, while Ethena manages operations, while the backing choice (USDe vs. USDtb) remains undisclosed.
- Ethena’s white-label stablecoin service is expanding rapidly (Jupiter’s jupUSD, MegaETH’s USDm, Maple Finance, Sui also exploring).
Ether.fi is entering the stablecoin market with a new dollar-denominated asset that will use Ethena’s infrastructure for issuance, redemptions, reserves, and compliance, expanding the platform’s role beyond liquid staking.
The launch gives Ether.fi a branded stablecoin that can be integrated across its existing products, while Ethena will provide the infrastructure and operational framework behind the asset.
Ether.fi said it already has more than $300 million in stablecoin deposits across its products, giving the new stablecoin an existing user base and potential source of liquidity.
Under the arrangement, Ether.fi will own the customer-facing product and brand, while Ethena will manage the infrastructure required to issue and redeem the stablecoin and handle the associated operational and compliance functions.
The partnership gives Ether.fi a way to launch a stablecoin without building the entire issuance and redemption infrastructure itself, while allowing Ethena to extend its stablecoin technology to another major on-chain financial platform.
The companies have not yet disclosed the stablecoin’s final name, launch date, reserve composition, or the precise terms of their revenue-sharing arrangement.
Ether.fi wants more control over the dollars flowing through its platform
The partnership reflects a broader trend in crypto, where protocols are beginning to issue their own stablecoins instead of relying entirely on established assets such as USDT or USDC.
Ethena’s white-label stablecoin service has already been used by projects including Jupiter, which launched jupUSD, and MegaETH, which introduced USDm.
Notably, Maple Finance and Sui are also among projects exploring stablecoin products built around Ethena’s infrastructure.
The attraction for Ether.fi is closely tied to the scale of its existing financial products.
The platform has accumulated more than $300 million in stablecoin deposits and has expanded beyond liquid staking into lending, DeFi products, and its Cash card.
Since the card launched in 2024, Ether.fi says it has processed nearly $1 billion in cumulative spending across more than 100,000 active cards.
That gives Ether.fi a reason to control the dollar asset moving through its ecosystem.
Instead of users depositing stablecoins issued by another company, a native stablecoin could allow Ether.fi to capture part of the economics generated by those balances while connecting payments, savings, staking, and other financial services.
What will back Ether.fi’s new stablecoin?
The arrangement also gives Ethena another distribution channel for its stablecoin infrastructure.
Ethena operates USDe, a synthetic dollar that uses crypto assets and derivatives positions as part of its backing strategy, as well as USDtb, a separate stablecoin backed by traditional assets.
USDe’s supply has moved considerably over the past year, reaching a peak of about $14.8 billion before falling to roughly $4.9 billion, according to the information provided.
Notably, Ether.fi’s eventual choice of backing will determine much of the risk profile of its dollar.
USDe relies on a market-based strategy involving crypto collateral and hedging positions, while USDtb is structured around traditional assets and has incorporated tokenized Treasury exposure.
Ether.fi has yet to say how either asset or other reserves will feature in its stablecoin.
Recently, Ethena expanded its USDe’s backing strategy into tokenized equities through a partnership with Binance, using tokenized U.S. stocks as spot exposure and equity perpetuals as a hedge.
The delta-neutral strategy aims to capture funding and basis returns while limiting directional risk.
Ethena said Binance’s equity basis trade averaged above 11% annualized over six months, though another risk assessment estimated 3.56%.
Could Ethena’s stablecoin infrastructure become a crypto financial network?
Ethena has also been changing how it generates returns on its reserves. The company has expanded beyond its original reliance on crypto-based trades into institutional lending, DeFi lending, and tokenized real-world assets.
In August, Ethena and FalconX announced a $1 billion secured lending facility that allows assets backing USDe to support overcollateralized loans to institutional borrowers.
More than $310 million had reportedly been deployed through institutional lending structures.
The expansion comes as Ethena itself builds a broader financial ecosystem around USDe.
In September, the company launched Ethena Pay, a self-custodial payments application designed to let users hold USDe, receive rewards, and spend through a payment card.
The initial beta covered 48 countries, with Avalanche serving as the settlement layer.
Ethena has also been working on value accrual for its own ENA token. In August, the Ethena Foundation proposed directing 95% of its net revenue from core businesses toward ENA buybacks once USDe reaches a $7.5 billion supply milestone.
Standard Chartered expects Ethena’s ENA token to reach $2 by 2028, citing USDe growth, expanding yield-bearing stablecoins, and broader tokenized asset strategies.
The Ether.fi deal therefore arrives at an important point for both companies.
Ether.fi is looking to turn its growing collection of crypto financial products into a more integrated platform, while Ethena is turning its stablecoin infrastructure into a service that other protocols can build on.
Source:: EtherFi Launches USD Stablecoin With Ethena Managing $300M+ Reserves