Ethena, the developer behind the USDe stablecoin, has successfully raised $100 million in a private sale of $ENA tokens in December 2024. The funding was aimed at supporting the launch of a new blockchain and the introduction of iUSDe, a token specifically designed for traditional financial institutions. The round saw participation from notable investors including Franklin Templeton and F-Prime Capital, a venture capital firm under Fidelity Investments. Ethena's founder, Guy Young, announced plans for the iUSDe token in a January blog post. This move signals a growing interest from institutional investors in the stablecoin market. USDe, marketed as a 'synthetic dollar' with a 9% yield and not backed 1:1 by fiat assets, has seen its market capitalization grow to nearly $6 billion, positioning it as the third largest stablecoin behind Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. To continue reading this as well as other DeFi and Web3 news, visit us at thedefiant.io
