TL;DR
- YZi Labs strengthened its stake in Ethena Labs and USDe, shortly after Binance listed the token as a spot pair and collateral.
- USDe debuted in 2024 with a delta-neutral model and has already surpassed $14B in market cap, making it the third-largest stablecoin.
- The renewed backing also extends to USDtb, the stablecoin tied to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, and to Converge, an EVM layer that will bring institutional-grade RWAs on-chain.
YZi Labs, the family office of Changpeng Zhao, has deepened its support for Ethena Labs, the creator of the synthetic dollar USDe, aligning with the project’s expansion strategy on BNB Chain and following Binance’s decision to add the asset as both a spot trading pair and yield-bearing collateral for derivatives traders.
The move strengthens the relationship between Ethena and one of its earliest institutional backers, reinforcing the protocol’s position in the stablecoin market.
Ethena Labs launched USDe in early 2024 with a design that set it apart from other stablecoins: it functions like an on-chain bond that maintains its dollar peg through a delta-neutral hedging strategy. This approach quickly drew institutional capital and the backing of players such as Maelstrom, Arthur Hayes’ family office, along with Dragonfly, Brevan Howard, and Franklin Templeton.
In less than two years, USDe surpassed $10 billion in value and now holds a market capitalization of around $14 billion, making it the third-largest stable asset in the crypto industry.
YZi Labs to Support USDtb Development
YZi Labs’ interest aligns with Ethena’s plans to expand its footprint on BNB Chain through new money markets, protocol integrations, and ecosystem partnerships. According to CEO Guy Young, the goal is to embed yield-bearing stable assets at the core of the crypto economy and scale their distribution globally.
In addition, YZi Labs will also support the development of USDtb, a stablecoin fully backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, designed to bridge traditional assets with the DeFi economy. At the same time, Ethena is working on Converge, an institutionally-focused EVM-based settlement layer built in collaboration with Securitize and several BlackRock tokenization partners, aimed at bringing institutional-grade RWAs on-chain.
YZi’s statement did not clarify whether the increased stake involves additional funding, but emphasized that the partnership is intended to accelerate USDe adoption across both centralized exchanges and DeFi protocols.
