Ethena Extends Stablecoin Backing into Equity Perpetual Futures

Ethena is expanding the collateral base of its USDe stablecoin to include equity perpetual futures, according to an announcement on Friday. This move comes as a response to shrinking crypto funding yields.

The addition of equity perpetuals will allow Ethena to tap into the $150 trillion global equities market, which it sees as the largest scaling opportunity since USDe's launch. Equity perpetual open interest has surpassed $6 billion across roughly 200 contracts, with an average annualized funding rate of 15% to 20%.

This is in stark contrast to Bitcoin, whose funding rate over the same period was less than 3%. Ethena's co-founder Guy Young noted that equities have a natural positive skew in funding distribution due to their long-term upward drift. This makes them more attractive as a collateral source compared to crypto markets.

The USDe supply has fallen from its peak of over $14 billion earlier this year to around $4.04 billion today. The stablecoin's reserve mix has been realigned, with perpetual futures funding now making up only 11% of the backing. This change is part of Ethena's broader overhaul, which includes institutional lending agreements and a buyback plan for its ENA token.