Ethena plans Telegram integration and a new token launch

Ethena will launch a new stablecoin, iUSDe, for institutional players and a Telegram-based payments app, according to the project’s founder, known as G.

https://t.co/01TIlgj1DT

— G | Ethena (@leptokurtic_) January 3, 2025

The team plans to roll out these initiatives in the first quarter of 2025, marking the start of Ethena’s evolution into a “neobank”.

“The next leg of growth will be primarily driven by exporting the product to traditional finance. The infrastructure is already built, the regulatory path into TradFi is clear, and the scale of the opportunity eclipses anything we have seen in crypto to date,” G explained.

The protocol accounted for about 85% of the 2024 growth in USD-based digital assets on Ethereum (excluding USDT and USDC), the statement said. In December, Ethena’s annualised run rate exceeded $1.2 billion. That made it the second-fastest crypto startup to reach $100 million in revenue, after Pump.fun on Solana.

The new synthetic stablecoin, iUSDe, targets the traditional market. The founder expects asset managers, ETF issuers, brokers, credit funds and investment trusts to use it.

According to Ethena’s co-founder, iUSDe is “identical” to sUSDe — the rewards token users receive when staking USDe. The new token’s mechanism allows programmable transfer restrictions to preserve trust within financial institutions.

Institutions will be able to acquire iUSDe “without having to touch the crypto rails” by purchasing shares in special-purpose vehicles.

Because USDe is pegged to the dollar, financial firms can “price iUSDe as a spread to risk-free rates,” G explained. Another advantage is that the asset’s yield is negatively correlated with real rates.

The forthcoming Telegram-based app will use the TON blockchain and Apple Pay, enabling “direct mobile payments”.

The Ethena founder also announced two products:

• Ethereal — a cryptocurrency exchange supporting spot and futures trading;
• Derive — a protocol offering on-chain options and structured products collateralised in sUSDe.

In December 2024, the Ethena team launched the USDtb stablecoin in partnership with Securitize, a platform specialising in RWA.