Ethena is expanding the collateral backing for its yield-bearing synthetic dollar, $USDe, into basis trades on equity perpetuals, also known as real-world asset (RWA) tokenization perps.
Equity perpetuals create a larger basis-yield opportunity
According to Ethena, the equity perpetuals market has grown tenfold since March, reaching $6 billion in open interest. The project believes the RWA perpetuals market could become 100 times larger, creating a scalable source of basis yield that is less dependent on the cyclical cryptocurrency market.
The underlying asset base is >$150 trillion compared to ~$2.5 trillion of crypto, making this the most scalable extension of the basis allocation to date. We expect RWA perpetuals to eclipse crypto allocations in $USDe’s backing within 12-24 months.
Ethena expects RWA perpetuals to outpace crypto-based basis trades as a source of $USDe collateral within one to two years. At present, liquid stablecoins such as USDT and USDC make up the largest share of $USDe’s backing at 32%. DeFi lending is the second-largest reserve category, accounting for 31% across Aave and Morpho.
Source: Ethena
Ethena diversifies $USDe’s yield sources
A basis trade captures the spread between an asset’s spot price and its futures contract, including perpetual futures. However, the strategy is exposed to crypto market cycles. During the peak of the 2024–2025 bull run, $USDe’s supply reached nearly $15 billion, with more than 80% of the supply earning yield. As the crypto winter set in, supply fell to $4 billion and the yield dropped below 0%.
Source: $USDe market supply (Ethena)
To reduce its reliance on the crypto market, Ethena first expanded into traditional credit, powered by Janus Henderson. Traditional credit currently represents 12% of $USDe’s backing.
The RWA perpetuals strategy, which is expected to launch in the next few weeks, would represent the second major stage of Ethena’s diversification plan. Explaining why the project waited before expanding into RWA perpetuals, Ethena founder Guy Young said:
We took a cautious approach to what was a nascent market and waited until we saw deep, liquid markets with a data history we could study before moving into the opportunity at scale.
Source: X
Young added that the segment is “one of the very few 100x left” and could exceed the global cryptocurrency market’s trading volume and open interest within 24 months.
$USDe yield compared with U.S. Treasury bills
Compared with its main yield competitor, short-term U.S. Treasury bills, $USDe offered a 1.6% spread. In other words, $USDe could provide a higher yield than U.S. T-bills before accounting for the security risks associated with DeFi.
Source: Ethena
Ethena has continued upgrading its ecosystem ahead of the next crypto bull market. Whether the latest expansion of its yield sources will increase demand for $USDe remains to be seen.
