TL;DR
- Ethena reached a supply of $6 billion USDe in just 10 months and exceeded $1.2 billion in annual revenue in December 2024.
- The platform consolidated its presence in the centralized exchange market, with USDe being used as collateral in 60% of these, and launched USDtb with BlackRock’s backing.
- For 2025, Ethena plans to expand its presence in Traditional Finance with iUSDe and launch new applications such as Ethereal and Derive.
Ethena had a very successful 2024, expanding and consolidating itself as an indispensable platform in the crypto market. The company has reviewed its achievements and provided an outlook for the new year.
During the year, it reached a supply of $6 billion USDe in just 10 months, becoming the fastest dollar-based asset to reach a $5 billion supply, only behind USDT and USDC. Additionally, the protocol reached annual revenue exceeding $1.2 billion in December, making it the protocol with the highest revenue per employee. Its success has been essential for the growth of other DeFi applications, contributing over 50% of the TVL of Pendle and a significant percentage of the revenues of platforms like Sky, Morpho, and Aave.
Ethena Dominates in Centralized Exchanges
In its expansion into Centralized Finance (CeFi), Ethena has successfully integrated into the centralized exchange market. USDe is now used as collateral in approximately 60% of centralized exchanges, even surpassing USDC balances on platforms like Bybit. Additionally, the launch of USDtb, a financial product backed by BUIDL from BlackRock, has received significant acceptance.
Looking ahead, Ethena is preparing to expand its presence in Traditional Finance (TradFi) markets, a sector valued at over $190 trillion. The engine of this expansion will be iUSDe, a version of sUSDe designed to meet TradFi regulations. iUSDe will be presented to asset managers, private credit funds, and other entities in the traditional financial markets, offering a product with much higher returns compared to traditional fixed-income options.
Heading to 2025
The platform is also becoming a bridge between traditional and decentralized finance. It offers products that leverage the demand for dollar-based yields. iUSDe is an ideal tool for interest rate arbitrage, helping to align capital flows in DeFi, CeFi, and TradFi. With the reduction in traditional interest rates, Ethena’s products, which show a negative correlation with these rates, are expected to become even more attractive to investors.
In the near future, Ethena plans to launch an app on Telegram in 2025. This app will allow over 900 million users to send, spend, and save in sUSDe. Additionally, the company will continue developing new applications such as Ethereal, a perpetual exchange with a spot market, and Derive, a protocol for options and structured products. The platform aims to foster the development of innovative tools in decentralized finance, with the launch of more applications in the first quarter of 2025
