Ethena unlocks a $150T market – And USDe holders win

Ethena officially kicked off its USDe yield reserve expansion to RWA (real-world asset) basis trading on Friday on the Binance exchange. 

In a statement, the protocol said the move into equity or RWA perps was the –

Most exciting update to the USDe collateral backing since launch.

The team first announced final plans for the RWA perps expansion last month, noting that it offers a massive scaling opportunity of +$150T compared to crypto’s $2.5T. 

As part of the arrangement, Ethena will use Binance’s bStocks (Spot tokenized stocks and ETFs) and the USDT-denominated perps versions for both sides of the trade.

For the unfamiliar, a basis trade involves buying a spot asset and shorting its equivalent perpetual Futures contract to pocket the price difference and funding rate.

According to Ethena, the Binance equity basis trade has averaged 11% in the past six months, nearly 2x the returns offered on short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. 

Additionally, Binance was chosen as the first platform for RWA-basis trade expansion because of low-risk and strong equity perps (30% monthly growth).  

Importantly, Binance provides lower ADL priority for eligible delta-neutral accounts, including Ethena’s, adding another layer of risk mitigation for USDe holders.