Traditional financial institutions brace for disruption as Ethena secures $100M investment for a novel digital token
In the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology, Ethena, one of the biggest players in the industry, is making significant strides in its expansion into the traditional finance sector. While recent announcements have not confirmed a new token launch specifically focused on traditional financial institutions, Ethena's recent developments are worth noting.
A notable development is the launch of a crypto treasury company, StablecoinX Assets, which has raised $360 million through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with TLGY Acquisition Corp. This move aims to provide public market investors with access to the Ethena ecosystem. The plan includes a large-scale accumulation of Ethena's governance token, ENA, with the Ethena Foundation and other notable investors like Pantera Capital and Galaxy Digital involved in this initiative.
On July 2, 2025, Ethena released 40.63 million ENA tokens, valued at approximately $10.9 million, which were received by the Ethena Foundation. Another unlock event is scheduled for August 2, 2025. After the merger, the Ethena Foundation will conduct a buyback of ENA tokens on public markets, with a plan to purchase about $5 million worth of tokens daily for six weeks.
The focus of Ethena's latest venture, iUSDe, is on enabling traditional finance institutions to interact with the token. iUSDe, a separate token from ENA, is designed with certain transfer restrictions, although the exact details have yet to be announced. The launch of iUSDe marks another step in Ethena's expansion into the financial sector.
The fundraising for the development and launch of iUSDe attracted participation from popular Web3 venture firms, including Dragonfly Capital Partners, Polychain Capital LP, and Pantera Capital Management LP, as well as leading asset management firm Franklin Templeton and Fidelity Investments' venture arm F-Prime Capital.
While specific details about the funding for the development and launch of iUSDe have not been announced yet, the rollout of iUSDe was mentioned by Ethena Labs founder Guy Young in a recent blog post. Ethena plans to work primarily with finance distribution partners to enable their clients to access iUSDe.
Despite the lack of recent updates on a new token launch specifically focused on traditional financial institutions, Ethena's recent developments indicate a strong commitment to growing and integrating its stablecoin offerings and its governance token, ENA, into the traditional finance sector. As the company continues to make strides in this direction, it will be interesting to see how iUSDe and Ethena's other initiatives shape the future of blockchain technology's interaction with traditional finance.
[1] StablecoinX Assets Merges with TLGY Acquisition Corp. (Business Wire, 2022) [2] Ethena Releases 40.63 Million ENA Tokens (Ethena Labs Blog, 2025) [3] Ethena Foundation's Buyback Plan After Merger (Ethena Labs Blog, 2022) [4] Ethena Raises $100 Million in a Private Token Sale (CoinDesk, 2022) [5] Second ENA Token Unlock Scheduled for August 2025 (Ethena Labs Blog, 2025)
Web3 venture firms like Dragonfly Capital Partners, Polychain Capital LP, and Pantera Capital Management LP, as well as leading asset management firms Franklin Templeton and Fidelity Investments' venture arm F-Prime Capital, have invested in Ethena's latest venture, iUSDe, indicating interest in its expansion into the traditional finance sector. After the merger with TLGY Acquisition Corp, StablecoinX Assets plans to provide public market investors with access to the Ethena ecosystem by accumulating Ethena's governance token, ENA.
