USDe Taps Equity Markets for Higher Returns

USDe, a synthetic dollar token, has introduced a new collateral mechanism by incorporating equity tokens from Binance's bStocks program. This move was announced on September 25, 2026, and marks a significant extension of the USDe funding mechanism since its launch.

The equity tokens are used as the spot leg in a delta-neutral strategy, where Ethena sells matching equity perpetuals short against them. The perpetuals are futures contracts with no expiry date, which helps to maintain the price stability of the token.

The equity perpetuals have higher funding rates compared to crypto assets, averaging 17.5% over the period from May 20 to August 11. This is in contrast to the open-interest-weighted funding rate on Bitcoin, which averaged 2.2% in 2026.

Ethena's risk committee has implemented a screening grid to ensure that only high-quality contracts are added to the reserve. The criteria include a minimum of $25 million of one-sided open interest and at least 30 days of funding history.