Perpetual futures now make up just 11% of USDe backing as Ethena pivots to institutional lending, real-world assets, and basis trades.

Ethena Labs announced a broad diversification of the collateral backing USDe, marking the most significant shift in the synthetic stablecoin’s reserve strategy since its launch. Perpetual futures positions, once the primary engine behind USDe’s returns and stability, now represent just 11% of total backing, with the remainder allocated to stablecoin reserves and DeFi lending positions.

The new framework adds four categories of reserve assets. Ethena is finalizing overcollateralized lending agreements with Anchorage Digital, Maple Institutional, and Coinbase Asset Management to extend stablecoin loans to institutional borrowers. The protocol is also expanding its real-world asset holdings beyond tokenized T-Bills, with plans to add collateralized loan obligations, investment-grade corporate bond funds, short-duration credit, and structured credit products. Equity and commodity basis trades and prime lending to trading firms round out the new mix.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

The changes address a longstanding concern among analysts: that USDe’s reliance on crypto perpetual funding rates left it exposed during periods when funding turns negative. Ethena noted that its historical approach “has not resulted in any impairments,” but acknowledged that concentrated strategies carry inherent risk across varying market conditions.

The governance token ENA gained approximately 7% following the announcement, reaching roughly $0.083. The move signals renewed investor confidence after a period of selling pressure, with technical analysts pointing to a potential trend reversal if key resistance levels hold.