Ethena plans to expand USDe backing into equity perpetual basis trades and announce new partner exchanges and deployments.
DeFi & Yields ·
Ethena announced plans to extend USDe backing beyond crypto into equity perpetual basis trades, with the first partner exchange announcements and deployments beginning in the coming weeks. The protocol said equity perpetuals currently hold nearly $6 billion in open interest across roughly 200 contracts on venues where Ethena already operates, growing more than tenfold since March.
Equity perpetual funding rates have averaged 15–20% annually, more than five times Bitcoin funding rates in 2026 and nearly uncorrelated to crypto funding dynamics. The underlying asset base for equity perpetuals exceeds $150 trillion compared to roughly $2.5 trillion in crypto, positioning this expansion as the most scalable basis allocation extension to date. Ethena expects allocations to real-world asset perpetuals to surpass crypto allocations within 12 to 24 months.
The protocol cited its existing operational infrastructure—precise delta-neutral execution, secure off-exchange custody, and institutional-grade security—as enabling safe deployment at scale, noting it has recorded zero basis point impairment over $30 billion in mint and redeem flow across more than 2.5 years. The specific partner exchanges and implementation timeline remain to be disclosed in the coming weeks.