Lucía Peña
Ethena is preparing to introduce a new stablecoin called UStb, in partnership with the real-world asset tokenization platform Securitize.
UStb will function similarly to traditional stablecoins, with plans to invest its reserves in BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), which is tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain, according to a statement shared with PRIME X.
The BUIDL fund, managed by BlackRock, focuses on U.S. dollars, short-term U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements. Since its launch in March, BUIDL has quickly become the largest tokenized U.S. Treasuries fund, now managing over $522 million in assets.
According to data from asset management firm 21.co, the market for tokenized government securities now exceeds $2 billion.
Securitize, which helps manage over $950 million in tokenized investments, has worked with major clients like BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, and KKR across different asset categories.
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A Separate Product from USDe
UStb will operate as a completely independent product from Ethena’s existing stablecoin, USDe. It offers a different risk profile, according to Ethena’s team.
USDe, launched in February, has grown to become the fifth-largest stablecoin by market cap, with a circulating supply of $2.6 billion. Unlike traditional stablecoins, USDe uses derivative hedging strategies rather than direct fiat or asset backing. It uses crypto assets like ether, bitcoin, and solana as collateral and maintains its U.S. dollar peg through an arbitrage-based minting and redeeming system. USDe also generates yields using a cash-and-carry strategy.
However, USDe carries certain risks, including exposure to derivatives markets, counterparty risks from exchanges, and collateral volatility, all of which could affect its stability, particularly during market downturns.
In August, USDe faced nearly $100 million in redemptions during a crypto market selloff, causing its price to briefly dip to $0.997 before returning to its $1 peg. Additionally, Ethena Labs had to temporarily deactivate its frontend after a domain registrar breach last week.
Ethena sees UStb as a tool that can help stabilize USDe in challenging market conditions. If needed, Ethena’s governance could opt to close USDe’s underlying hedging positions and reallocate its backing assets to UStb to mitigate related risks, the team noted.
Ethena also plans for UStb to serve as alternative margin collateral on centralized exchanges it partners with, including Bybit and Bitget.
Earlier this year, Ethena Labs raised $14 million in a strategic funding round, valuing the company at $300 million. The round was co-led by Dragonfly and Maelstrom, the family office of BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.
