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- Ethena raises $100 million in private token sales to launch blockchain and TradFi tokens.
- Large investors, including Franklin Templeton and Pantera, back Ethena’s ambitious plans.
- Ethena partners with WFLI to integrate USDe and introduce iUSDe for financial institutions.
Synthetic dollar USDe issuer Ethena has completed a private token sale worth $100 million. As per a Bloomberg report on 24 February, the funds are meant to create a new blockchain and mint a token to target traditional financial (TradFi). The private sale was concluded in December of 2024. Investors purchased ENA tokens at an average price of $0.40.
The sale attracted several large investors, such as Franklin Templeton, F-Prime Capital, Pantera Capital Management, and Polychain Capital. These names suggest great support for Ethena’s plans, though quite ambitious. After the sale was completed, the price for ENA rose to $1.30 during mid-December. However, the price of the token was reduced by 70% in the following days, which is an indication of high volatility.
Ethena Partners with WFLI
Besides the token sale, Ethena has also connected with WFLI, a decentralized finance project affiliated with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. This partnership will involve incorporating Ethena’s USDe into WFLI’s Aave instance, which will enable users to pay using USDe and also earn sUSDe and WLF tokens.
The earnings received from the token sale will allow Ethena to develop its blockchain system. The company also intends to launch a new TradFi token as a part of this network. Guy Young, the founder of Ethena, has already declared the intention to launch iUSDe. This token is specifically for the financial industry and other operations centers within the financial sector. It will include such transfer restrictions to match traditional finance requirements.
The iUSDe token will employ the simple wrapper contract approach to implement those restrictions. This design will also help to implement measures to avoid any compliance issues that may prevent iUSDe from being used by regulated entities in the financial world. Ethena’s mission is to bring decentralized finance products to the financial establishment.
Ethena Labs managed to secure $14 million in a funding round in February 2024. This round, a fund raised by Dragonfly Capital and Arthur Hayes’ family office, gave the company a valuation of $300 million. The latest fundraising round underlines a huge confidence in Ethena’s prospects.
