Ethena Surges 65% on $1 Billion Lending Deal with FalconX and BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes' Bullish Calls

Ethena's price surged by 65% in seven days, reaching an intraday high near $0.145 on August 21. This impressive gain was fueled by a $1 billion lending deal with FalconX and bullish calls from Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX.

The agreement between Ethena and FalconX will fund overcollateralized loans using assets backing USDe. FalconX will originate and service the loans while managing the collateral held with qualified custodians. Ethena will hold a first-priority security interest over the assets in the lending vehicle, providing another potential source of returns beyond crypto basis trades.

Hayes' bullish commentary added to the momentum, stating that an 'ENA 5 bagger is just too easy.' He had previously argued that stronger US dollar liquidity could lift Bitcoin and improve derivatives basis yields. On-chain reports earlier in August linked him to purchases totaling 22.64 million ENA worth about $2 million.

However, the 4-hour RSI reached 93.97, warning that the near-vertical rally is overheated. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator also supports the uptrend, but overbought readings do not guarantee an immediate decline.