$ENA climbed 17.9% in 24 hours to $0.2584 on September 25 after @ethena announced it would begin backing its $USDe synthetic dollar with tokenized U.S. stocks on @binance. The token is up rou
$ENA climbed 17.9% in 24 hours to $0.2584 on September 25 after @ethena announced it would begin backing its $USDe synthetic dollar with tokenized U.S. stocks on @binance. The token is up roughly 54% over the past week.
The mechanics mirror Ethena's existing crypto strategy. Binance's bStocks serve as tokenized spot backing assets for USDe, with Ethena hedging the positions using equity perpetual futures.bStocks represent an interest in securities held by their issuer, BTech Holdings Limited, and can be converted to the underlying securities on Binance, subject to applicable laws.
The expansion was approved by Ethena's Risk Committee on August 28, 2026.Ethena announced the partnership on September 25 and said allocations begin the same day.
Open interest on Binance's equity perpetuals tops $2.9 billion and has compounded at 105% a month in 2026. Ethena believes that scale gives the equity opportunity room to surpass what it captured in crypto derivatives last cycle. Over time, Ethena said it expects the equity perpetual opportunity to significantly exceed the crypto perpetual market.
Binance has spent much of 2026 building stock products alongside its crypto trading business, opening access to more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs for eligible users outside the United States in June.Ethena's allocation arrives as tokenized stocks have become one of the faster growing parts of the real world asset market, with the tokenized stock market tracked by Token Terminal reaching around $2.7 billion in August, compared with roughly $80 million a year earlier.
Ethena's risk advisers flagged the spot leg as unsecured exposure to a Binance affiliate until a side letter is signed, a reminder that the structure, while familiar in design, introduces additional counterparty considerations beyond Ethena's existing crypto basis trades.
The equity strategy comes as Ethena continues expanding the use of USDe and sUSDe across blockchain-based financial applications, with Aave V4 having activated USDe rewards through a dedicated Ethena market on Ethereum earlier in September.
Sources:The Block: Ethena expands USDe backing strategy into bStocks and equity perpetuals on BinanceUnchained Crypto: Ethena starts backing USDe with tokenized stocks on BinanceCrypto.news: Ethena takes USDe basis trade into tokenized US equities
