DeFi
Ethena integrates with Bybit to add USDe as a collateral asset
Traders will also be exposed to fee-free trading with BTC and ETH pairs.
Synthetic stablecoin startup Ethena Labs today revealed an integration with Bybit to add its USDe token as a collateral asset on the crypto exchange.
Adding support for USDe will allow users to trade perpetuals while potentially capturing yield on Ethena – which currently sits at 15.3% – as well as fee-free trades on spot trades Bitcoin and Ether. Bybit users will also integrate the token into its Earn platform.
Ethena’s native token, ENA, rose slightly in the news. It is up 1.5% to $0.97, for a market cap of $1.3 billion. The team airdropped 5% of ENA’s total supply to early adopters, amassing a massive market cap of $1 billion on day one, as the project also launched its “Sats campaign.”
ENA Price – CoinGecko
Today’s integration only adds dust to what we call stablecoin warswhich heated up last week when PayPal enabled PYUSD for cross-border payments, and Ripple touted its own stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.
According to to the team at Ethena, they emulate the success of the market’s two leading stablecoins, USDT and USDC, which collectively represent over 90% of the $160 billion stablecoin market cap.
“The success of USDT And USDC has been deeply linked to its use as a currency on centralized trading venues within key trading pairs,” reads an X post from the Ethena social media team. “Adding USDe to these spot pairs is the first step toward growing adoption beyond DeFi into the space’s most liquid trading platforms.”
Placing USDe on Bybit is a sure win for the ecosystem, given the size of the exchange. It trails Binance in 24-hour volume with $3.6 billion, ranking third based on monthly visits with 39.1 million, and holds first place in trust score on CoinGecko.
Ethena rises through the ranks
The Ethena ecosystem has been in ruins since controversially launched in mid-February 2024. The startup revealed a return of 27% on its stablecoin – it has since fallen to 15% –trigger PTSD woes of Terra’s collapse.
USDe, Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin, backs the $1-pegged token, with ETH staked on Lido, while also hedging stETH with short ETH positions on centralized exchanges. stETH and short positions contribute to the yield passed on to stablecoin holders.
After its aforementioned airdrop, USDe quickly climbed the ranks and is in fifth place for stablecoins according to CoinGecko. It added 20% to its $2.4 billion market capitalization in early April, although it has since declined to $2.29 billion.
At the beginning of April, Ethena also Bitcoin added as a collateral asset for USDe, a measure intended to help the delta-covered synthetic dollar scale by accessing the Bitcoin futures market.