Ethena Raises $100 Million in Private ENA Token Sale to Build New Chain, Institutional Products

The Ethena Foundation has completed raising $100 million in a private sale of ENA tokens, with participation from major investors including Franklin Templeton, Polychain, Pantera, Dragonfly, and Fidelity’s venture arm F-Prime. The funds will be used to develop a new chain for the Ethena network as well as support the launch of its institutional product, iUSDe.

The token sale was completed in December last year, and the average price of each ENA token traded was under $0.40, according to people familiar with the matter. Currently, ENA tokens are trading at $0.42, down 67% from their December high of $1.27, according to data from The Block’s Ethena Price Page.

The funds raised will not only be used to develop a new chain for the Ethena ecosystem, but will also be used to buy back tokens from existing investors to reset the cost base of the cap table. In addition, the remaining funds will support the launch of the iUSDe product, which is expected to be a version of the reward token specifically for large financial institutions.

Ethena currently manages the decentralized stablecoin USDe, the fourth largest stablecoin in the market with a circulating supply of up to $5.9 billion. iUSDe, Ethena's upcoming product, is designed to reach traditional financial institutions such as asset managers, trusts, hedge funds, and prime brokers. The iUSDe token operates on a "wrapping" mechanism and can program transfer restrictions to comply with the regulations of large financial institutions.

In February 2024, Ethena Labs announced that it raised $14 million in a strategic funding round at a $300 million valuation, co-led by Dragonfly and the family office of BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, Maelstrom.

Ethena continues to expand its ecosystem and build new decentralized finance products to bridge DeFi and traditional financial institutions, promising to bring significant changes to the global financial industry.