Ethena is partnering with Binance to extend its basis trade strategy from crypto assets into equity markets, using Binance as the first venue for the expansion. The move will allow Ethena to
Ethena is partnering with Binance to extend its basis trade strategy from crypto assets into equity markets, using Binance as the first venue for the expansion. The move will allow Ethena to use tokenized stocks, known as bStocks, as spot collateral while hedging their price exposure with Binance’s USDT-denominated equity perpetuals.
The expansion increases the range of assets that can potentially support USDe, Ethena’s synthetic dollar. Ethena said allocations will begin immediately, with the company targeting a market that it estimates at more than $150 trillion in real-world assets, compared with about $2.5 trillion for the crypto assets that have supported the strategy so far. Binance will also give eligible delta-neutral accounts, including Ethena’s, lower priority in its automatic deleveraging system.
Ethena is partnering with @Binance as our first venue for the extension of the basis trade into equity perpetuals, one of the most exciting updates to the USDe collateral backing since launch.
This expands the addressable market of underlying collateral from $2.5 trillion of… pic.twitter.com/be4Mz7XHk1
— Ethena (@ethena) September 25, 2026
Ethena’s model is built around holding an asset while taking an offsetting short position in futures or perpetual contracts. The two positions are designed to largely cancel out price movements, leaving the protocol to earn from the difference between the spot and futures markets, or from funding payments.
That approach has been central to USDe since its launch in February 2024. Ethena says USDe has grown past $15 billion at its peak and has handled more than $30 billion in cumulative minting and redemptions without losing its backing during major market stress events.
The model is not risk-free, however. Ethena’s own documentation says funding rates can move sharply and can become negative for extended periods. Its historical data also shows that returns from perpetual funding and futures basis have varied over time rather than behaving like a fixed interest payment.
That matters because USDe’s earnings depend partly on market conditions. When traders are heavily positioned for prices to rise, short positions can receive funding payments. But if that demand reverses, the income available to the strategy can fall or turn negative.
You may also like: Pyth Network Launches 24/7 Stock and Commodity Indices to Power Crypto Markets
The move also pushes USDe deeper into the growing market for tokenized traditional assets. Binance launched bStocks in 2026, allowing eligible users to trade blockchain-based versions of selected stocks. However, bStocks are not direct ownership of the underlying companies and do not give holders normal shareholder rights.
The value of the token can track a stock, but the legal rights attached to it are different from owning the stock through a traditional broker. Binance also says bStocks are subject to issuer, custody, liquidity, technology and regulatory risks, while access is restricted in some jurisdictions.
There is also a timing issue. US stocks trade during set market hours, while crypto markets operate around the clock. Binance says bStocks can continue trading when the underlying US market is closed, meaning their price can move based on supply and demand even when the actual stock market is shut.
For USDe users, the result is a wider range of assets supporting the system, but also a new layer of risks that did not exist in exactly the same form when the strategy was focused mainly on crypto. The performance of the model will depend not only on the spread between two markets, but also on how tokenized securities are priced, traded, settled and regulated.
Meanwhile, Ethena Labs is set to allocate $250 million to the Securitize Tokenized AAA CLO Fund (STAC) as the investment product launches on the Solana blockchain, marking another step in the growing use of real-world assets (RWAs) in decentralized finance.
Enjoyed this? BookmarkDeFi Planet, explore related topics, and follow us onTwitter,LinkedIn,Facebook,Instagram,Threads, and CoinMarketCap Community for seamless access to high-quality industry insights
Take control of your crypto portfolio with DEFI PLANET PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.
The post Ethena Extends USDe Basis Trade to Equity Perpetuals With Binance appeared first on DeFi Planet.
