Ethena Labs has officially expanded its renowned synthetic dollar, USDe, and its staked version, sUSDe, to the Avalanche blockchain, showcasing a significant cross-chain growth for the project. Currently, USDe boasts a staggering market capitalization of over $13 billion—observing a remarkable surge of 128% from $5.7 billion in June. This impressive rise positions USDe as the third-largest circulating stablecoin, according to data from DeFiLlama.
In tandem with this rollout, Ethena’s native ENA token has seen a notable increase, climbing 17% over the past week to achieve a valuation of $11.6 billion. Today’s launch introduces integrations with various platforms, including Uniswap, Pharaoh Exchange, LFJ, and BlackholeDEX, aimed at providing enhanced spot liquidity. Furthermore, support for USDe, sUSDe, and their related Pendle tokens as collateral will soon be extended by protocols such as Euler, Silo, Folks Finance, and Term Labs. Ethena has also indicated it is investigating potential collateral integrations with Benqi and Aave.
In a recent post on X, Ethena announced that its assets would be usable across major lending and trading DeFi applications on Avalanche starting today. Users engaging in eligible DeFi activities on the platform will qualify for rewards in both AVAX, Avalanche’s native token, and Ethena Points. At present, AVAX is trading at approximately $28.60, having increased by 52% over the past three months, according to CoinGecko.
In another significant move, Ethena stated that Pendle Finance is introducing its first instance of cross-chain Principal Tokens (PTs) to the Avalanche network. From today, USDe PT will be bridgeable to Avalanche via the Pendle site, facilitated by collaboration with LayerZero. Notably, cross-chain PT deposits will be accepted as collateral on money markets like Euler and Silo, allowing users to borrow other stablecoins.
This strategic expansion occurs amid a solid rebound for Avalanche, whose total value locked (TVL) has nearly doubled in the last two quarters, rising from $1.1 billion in April to approximately $2.1 billion today, based on figures from DeFiLlama. Analysts attribute this growth to factors such as heightened institutional inflows, increased gaming adoption, and ongoing network upgrades.
Nic Puckrin, the CEO and founder of Coin Bureau, expressed optimism about Avalanche’s trajectory, stating that the platform is poised to emerge as a hub for tokenized assets and decentralized finance. He noted the advantages of improved liquidity and reduced transaction costs, which incentivize developers and users alike to engage with the ecosystem. Puckrin suggested this positions Avalanche to compete directly with Solana and Ethereum’s Layer 2 solutions, particularly in sectors where tokenization continues to gain momentum.
Earlier in the year, Ethena had already made strides by expanding operations onto the TON blockchain, deploying USDe and sUSDe in May. This integration allows sUSDe to function as tsUSDe within Telegram’s in-app wallets, thereby providing the app’s vast user base—approximately one billion—access to stablecoin yields via its custodial Wallet and noncustodial TON Space.
