Ethena Goes Mainstream-ish: USDe App Slaps 6% Rewards, Targets 48 Countries 🌍

Ethena launched a self-custodial money app on Tuesday built around its USDe synthetic dollar, expanding the crypto-native asset into payments, savings and cross-border transfers for users outside the United States, European Union, Canada, Taiwan and South Korea. The Ethena Pay app lets users hold USDe through a dollar-denominated balance, earn as much as 6% in annualized rewards and spend funds through a payment card, while supporting fiat onramps. The beta is rolling out to 400 users across 48 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and other regions, with access set to expand weekly, according to an Ethena post on X. Avalanche will serve as the exclusive settlement layer for payments and transfers.

Users can deposit fiat or crypto, with funds converted into USDe ($USDe). The app supports IBAN details for moving money to and from external bank accounts in local currencies. MoonPay-owned Iron provides the backend infrastructure. Ethena said it expects to expand into the U.S., EU, Canada, Taiwan and South Korea during the beta, subject to regulatory approval.

Ethena is an Ethereum-based protocol behind USDe, a synthetic dollar designed to maintain its value near $1 without relying on traditional banking infrastructure. USDe uses crypto collateral alongside hedging strategies, including derivatives positions, to help maintain its peg. The asset has grown to a market capitalization of about $4.1 billion, making it the sixth-largest stablecoin, according to DefiLlama data.

Ethena also operates ENA, the protocol's governance token, which has a market capitalization of roughly $1.5 billion. ENA has rallied about 68% over the past month but remains well below its previous highs. On Friday, the Ethena Foundation proposed directing 95% of the net revenue it receives from Ethena's core businesses toward ENA buybacks once USDe's circulating supply reaches $7.5 billion. ENA rose more than 10% following the proposal and gained 27% over the week. The token recorded about $595 million in trading volume over the past 24 hours, up 16% from the previous day, and was trading around $0.16 on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko.