Ethena Announces Telegram Integration, New Token Launch
Date: 2025-01-06 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
These initiatives are planned for Q1 2025 and are part of the company’s ambitious strategy to expand into traditional financial markets.
Ethena’s founder, known by the nickname G, said that the company is targeting “neobanks.” He explained that the next stage of the protocol’s development will be related to integration with traditional finance (TradFi). “The infrastructure is already in place, and the opportunities that are opening up to us are beyond anything we’ve seen in the crypto industry,” G noted.
Ethena has seen significant growth in 2024, accounting for about 85% of the total volume of US dollar-based digital assets on the Ethereum network, excluding USDT and USDC. By December 2024, Ethena’s annual revenue exceeded $1.2 billion, making it the second-fastest growing crypto startup after Solana-based Pump.fun.
The new iUSDe stablecoin is aimed at the traditional financial market and will be used by entities such as asset managers, ETF issuers, brokers, and investment funds. According to G, iUSDe is similar to the sUSDe token that users receive when staking USDe. The new token includes mechanisms to limit transfers, which will help maintain trust within financial institutions. This will allow institutional investors to acquire iUSDe through the purchase of shares in special purpose vehicles, bypassing the cryptocurrency rails.
In addition, since iUSDe is pegged to the dollar, financial institutions will be able to use it as a tool for estimating spreads with risk-free rates. Another important advantage will be that the token’s yield is negatively correlated with real interest rates.
Ethena is also preparing to launch a mobile app based on Telegram, which will be integrated with the TON blockchain and support Apple Pay for mobile payments.
The company also announced two new products:
Ethereal — a cryptocurrency exchange with spot and futures trading;
Derive — a protocol for trading on-chain options and structured products with sUSDe collateral.
Recall that in December 2024, Ethena introduced another product — the USDtb stablecoin, issued in partnership with the Securitize platform, which specializes in real-world assets (RWA).
