Ethena adds Binance bStocks and equity perpetuals to USDe backing strategy
Ethena brings tokenized equities into the trade behind USDe
Ethena is adding tokenized U.S. equities and equity perpetual futures on Binance to the strategy that backs its USDe token, according to a statement the company shared exclusively with The Block.
USDe is a synthetic dollar, meaning a stablecoin designed to hold a value close to one U.S. dollar. Ethena says it will use Binance's bStocks as tokenized spot collateral and Binance equity perpetual futures to hedge the position. A perpetual future is a derivative contract that tracks an asset's price without an expiry date.
The move extends the "basis trade" behind USDe from crypto assets into equities. Ethena's Risk Committee had previously approved a framework for adding tokenized equity basis trades to its allocation strategy.
Key points
- Ethena will use Binance bStocks as tokenized spot collateral and equity perpetuals on Binance to hedge the exposure.
- Binance has more than $2.9 billion in open interest across equity perpetual futures, according to figures Ethena provided, growing at a compound monthly rate of 105% this year.
- The equity basis has averaged 3.56% annualized over the past six months, based on Ethena's figures.
- USDe supply is about $4.9 billion, according to The Block's data dashboard.
- bStocks represent an interest in securities held by their issuer, BTech Holdings Limited, and can be converted into the underlying securities on Binance, subject to applicable laws.
How the equity version of the trade is structured
Ethena's approach is described as delta-neutral. In simple terms, it holds a position and takes an opposing derivatives position to reduce exposure to price moves, aiming to earn from the difference between the two rather than from the direction of the market.
The company has run that strategy across crypto assets before. Binance added USDe across its platform last year, including as collateral for futures and perpetuals trading.
Ethena said it expects the equity perpetual opportunity to significantly exceed the crypto perpetual market over time. That is Ethena's expectation, not a confirmed outcome.
What Ethena and Binance say
Ethena Labs founder Guy Young said the move is "the most significant expansion of USDe's funding mechanism since we started." He added that equities trade in the hundreds of trillions of dollars globally, and that as more of that market moves onchain, Ethena sees a substantial opportunity to continue diversifying its backing strategy.
Binance Head of Exchange and Trading Shunyet Jan said Binance's bStocks and equity perpetuals are "seeing increased adoption as their liquidity and use case grows." He described Ethena as running one of the largest systematic strategies in digital assets and said its expansion into tokenized securities and equity perps is a clear sign of how the convergence of crypto and traditional assets will surface new opportunities.
Binance's equity and bStocks business
Binance opened trading in more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs to eligible users outside the United States in June, and rolled out bStocks later the same month.
The Block previously reported that Binance's TradFi perpetual futures generated about $433.4 billion in volume in August, with equity-linked contracts accounting for roughly $342.9 billion of that.
What is confirmed
- Ethena says it is extending its USDe backing strategy into tokenized equities using Binance bStocks and equity perpetuals, according to the statement it shared with The Block.
- The Ethena Risk Committee previously approved a framework for adding tokenized equity basis trades.
- bStocks represent an interest in securities held by issuer BTech Holdings Limited and can be converted to the underlying securities on Binance, subject to applicable laws.
- USDe supply stands at about $4.9 billion, per The Block's data dashboard.
What is still unclear
The supplied material does not say how much of USDe's backing will go into equities, when the strategy will begin, or the size of the positions. The figures on Binance's equity perpetual open interest, its growth rate and the equity basis come from data Ethena provided, rather than from independent confirmation. The view that equity perpetuals will eventually be much larger than crypto perpetuals is Ethena's own expectation.
Why this matters
The announcement shows a stablecoin issuer pulling a type of asset that Binance introduced this year — tokenized stocks and equity-linked derivatives — into the machinery that supports a dollar-pegged token. It also means part of USDe's backing strategy now depends on equity markets as well as crypto markets.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.