Ethena, the DeFi platform that has taken the crypto space by storm, has unveiled earlier today an ambitious roadmap for 2025. The company’s Q1 focus is on collaborating with traditional financial (TradFi) distribution partners to introduce iUSDe, a product designed to bridge the gap between decentralized and traditional finance.
This initiative comes after a stellar 2024 that saw Ethena achieving remarkable milestones and becoming a cornerstone in the DeFi ecosystem.
Ethena’s Achievements in 2024
In a blog post summarizing its 2024 performance, Ethena highlighted key achievements. It includes, Ethena growing to the third-largest USD asset in the crypto space, reaching a $6 billion supply within 10 months.
The platform became the fastest USD asset to hit $5 billion supply in crypto history. By December, Ethena achieved a run-rate annualized revenue of $1.2 billion and became the highest revenue-per-employee protocol in the crypto space.
Ethena’s flagship stablecoin, USDe, accounted for 85% of all on-chain USD asset growth outside of USDT and USDC. It became a critical building block in DeFi, powering significant portions of platforms like Pendle, Sky, and Morpho.
Within CeFi, USDe gained traction as collateral for margin trading, achieving integration with 60% of centralized exchanges.
The Introduction of iUSDe
The next phase of Ethena’s growth revolves around iUSDe, a wrapped version of sUSDe tailored for TradFi. iUSDe incorporates transfer restrictions at the token level, making it compliant with regulatory requirements for institutional use.
Ethena aims to partner with asset managers, private credit funds, exchange-traded product issuers, and other financial entities to bring iUSDe to a global audience.
Also Read: Deribit To Integrate Ethena’s USDe As Margin Collateral, ENA Price Surges Over 10%
This move aligns with Ethena’s vision of targeting the $190 trillion fixed-income market, the largest liquid investment class globally. Ethena sees iUSDe as a pivotal product that combines crypto-native real returns with the safety and predictability of traditional finance.
Why iUSDe Appeal to TradFi?
Ethena’s iUSDe offers unique advantages to traditional financial entities. The team said that it combines two scalable sources of crypto-native returns.
Its returns are negatively correlated to real rates, a rare property in legacy finance. The underlying assets are custodial, making them easier for TradFi to underwrite.
The product is poised to provide institutional investors with efficient access to the excess returns of crypto markets, enabling seamless entry without requiring direct interaction with blockchain infrastructure.
ENA Token Performance
With $10 billion of potential iUSDe capacity, Ethena is gearing up for massive growth in 2025. The company plans to leverage its robust infrastructure, regulatory clarity, and partnerships to export its products into traditional finance.
Ethena’s native token, ENA, is up by over 5%, trading at $1.12 with a market cap of $3.38 billion. The 24-hour trading volume has surged by 23%, reflecting heightened investor interest following the roadmap announcement.
Ethena’s focus on merging DeFi with TradFi through iUSDe positions it as a transformative force in the financial world. By creating products that appeal to both crypto and traditional finance, Ethena is setting a new standard for innovation and scalability in the digital economy.
Also Read: Ethena ($ENA) Whale Pulls $3.83M As Price Recovers, $1.18M Profit In Just Four Days