Ethena

January 2023

Ethena Labs founded by Guy Young, former Cerberus Capital Management professional, with vision of a delta-neutral synthetic dollar protocol.

February 2024

Ethena raises $14 million in strategic funding round co-led by Arthur Hayes' family office Maelstrom and Dragonfly, at a $300 million valuation. Additional backers include Franklin Templeton, Galaxy Digital, and Binance Labs.

March 2024

USDe and ENA governance token launch publicly on Ethereum mainnet. Airdrop of ENA tokens distributed to early protocol participants.

July 2024

Ethena's Discord server hacked. ZachXBT and other on-chain investigators warn users not to click any links on the server. Phishing links posted by attacker under guise of token bonus offers.

July 2024

Ethena GmbH applies for MiCA authorization with BaFin in Germany on July 29, 2024, allowing continued USDe issuance under a transitional provision during the review period.

September 2024

Ethena's domain registrar account compromised on September 18, 2024. Front-end website subjected to exploit. Ethena Labs deactivates website. Blockaid warns users who connected wallets during the exploit window.

October 2024

Crypto investigator Nomad alleges Ethena Labs misused 180 million ENA tokens during Season 3 farming event, with six foundation-linked wallets allegedly controlling 25% of staked ENA and capturing 20% of community Ethereal points. Ethena founder Guy Young denies misuse, citing vesting schedule compliance. Nomad subsequently retracts initial claims.

December 2024

Ethena raises $100 million via private ENA token sale from Franklin Templeton, Polychain, Pantera, Dragonfly, and F-Prime Capital to fund Ethena Chain development and institutional product launch.

March 2025

BaFin imposes initial supervisory measures on Ethena GmbH on March 21, 2025 after identifying serious deficiencies in compliance with MiCAR. Ethena GmbH forced to pause all USDe mint and redeem functions.

April 2025

BaFin imposes EUR 600,000 coercive fine on April 4 and issues formal winding-up order on April 14, 2025 against Ethena GmbH. Company withdraws MiCA application on April 3, triggering loss of EU operating rights. BaFin separately suspects sUSDe constitutes an unregistered securities offering.

October 2025

October 10-11 flash crash wipes out $19 billion in leveraged positions — largest single-day deleveraging in crypto history. USDe briefly trades as low as $0.65 on Binance due to absence of direct mint/redeem dealer relationship; broader market shows brief $0.97 depeg that recovers within hours. USDe supply contracts from ~$14B peak to ~$8.3B.

March 2026

USDe circulating supply sits at approximately $5.92 billion as of mid-Q1 2026, down from ~$14B peak. Protocol revenue fell 32% QoQ to $65.06 million. Daily Active Users decline to approximately 1,200, lowest since December 2024.