‘Make tokens great again!’: ENA Hits Yearly High After Ethena Implements 4 Changes
Ethena Foundation Announces Major Ecosystem Updates: Buyback Proposal, End to VC Overhang, and IP Realignment
The Ethena Foundation has unveiled four significant ecosystem updates that analysts describe as extremely bullish and long overdue. The announcement addresses persistent concerns around token unlocks, intellectual property rights, and revenue distribution for the $ENA token and the $USDe yield-generating stablecoin.
Foundation Acquires Locked Seed Investor Tokens; Monthly VC Overhang Eliminated
First, the Foundation confirmed it has purchased all locked tokens from major seed investors who sold $ENA over the past nine months. Additionally, the monthly venture capital (VC) overhang has ended, removing a major bearish factor that previously weighed on the token. Team tokens will remain locked according to the original schedule.
In a coordinated move, the Ethena Foundation and lead investors agreed to eliminate future overhang associated with monthly VC investor unlocks by releasing unvested tokens. Throughout 2024, Ethena raised over $180 million by selling 315 million $ENA tokens, a process that created persistent VC overhang until this latest resolution.
IP Rights Assigned to Foundation; Avoiding Governance Conflict
Third, $ENA will now be fully aligned with the ecosystem. Brand and intellectual property (IP) rights have been assigned to the Foundation and will be governed by token holders. Crucially, there will be no payouts to private investors in Ethena Labs, the entity responsible for building ecosystem products.
This decision directly contrasts with the historic Aave governance dispute, which was triggered by a battle over IP ownership and revenue. Ethena has taken the opposite route to avoid a similar divisive conflict.
Fee Switch and $ENA Buyback Proposal Tied to Revenue Milestones
Finally, the project announced a fee switch and an $ENA buyback proposal funded by generated revenue. Currently, Ethena’s $USDe stablecoin has a market supply of $4.5 billion and generated $1.8 million in revenue in 2026.
Under the proposal, if the $USDe supply crosses $7.5 billion and annualized revenue reaches $450 million, 5% ($22 million) of proceeds will be allocated to $ENA buybacks. The buyback program is designed to scale further if ecosystem growth accelerates.
Community Support Is Unanimous
The proposals have received overwhelming community backing. The on-chain vote, which concludes on September 2, currently shows 100% voting in favor with zero “abstain” or “against” votes recorded as of press time, marking unanimous support.
This sentiment is echoed across social media. Reacting to the update, Ethena founder Guy Young stated:
Long overdue. Make tokens great again.
Sam Ruskin, Investment Associate at crypto VC Reciprocal Ventures, projected a significant re-rating for the token:
Rerate $ENA much higher. Ethena’s business model has shifted quite a lot in the last year. Bullish on Ethena winning the collateral layer.
Business Model Diversification and Market Reaction
Ethena primarily offers white-label stablecoins and $USDe savings products. Over the past year, the protocol diversified its collateral beyond crypto assets into traditional liquid loans to mitigate low yields during bear markets. Expansion efforts for $USDe distribution have also scaled, with Coinbase announced as the latest distribution partner.
On Thursday, $ENA’s price rallied 15% following the announcements. The rally extended a further 12% to a yearly high of $0.189 before a slight pullback at press time. Market participants are now watching how evolving revenue dynamics will drive buybacks and token price appreciation moving forward.
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