This summer, ENA bottomed around 7 cents. Then at the end of August, the Ethena Foundation dropped one of the most tokenholder-friendly announcements in DeFi this year.
The token ripped, and now everyone's asking: is it time to buy?
Lito is Head of Growth at Ethena Pay, the non-custodial neobank built on top of a yield engine powered by Ethena’s USDe. In a new episode of The Edge Podcast, Lito walks through exactly what makes Ethena Pay different from every other neobank in the space, what the equity basis trade expansion means for USDe yield, and what the Ethena Foundation actually did with early investor tokens to protect ENA's value and remove the overhangs that had been holding it back.
Three things worth knowing before you listen:
No other neobank owns its own yield engine. ether.fi, Revolut, Robinhood, every competitor monetizes user balances by building on someone else's stablecoin. Ethena owns USDe and the yield strategy that powers it. That means they can always offer a better risk-adjusted rate than anyone who has to split margin with a third party issuer.
The equity basis trade changes everything. Ethena has been running the crypto basis trade for years with billions in AUM. Now they're applying the same strategy to equities and Lito's argument is compelling: equities are 100x bigger than crypto as a market, stock perp volumes are growing, and no other team has Ethena's track record executing this trade at scale across venues.
The token cleanup was exactly what ENA holders needed. Early investors were bought out at the bottom. Remaining investor tokens were put on an accelerated unlock schedule, fully unlocked as of October 5th. The token overhang that's been weighing on price is gone. And the foundation ended up with more tokens at a price that looks pretty brilliant in hindsight.
Listen to the latest Edge Podcast for the full interview!
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🔗 Guest Links 🔗
► Ethena Pay website: pay.ethena.fi
► Ethena Pay on X: x.com/ethenapay
► Lito on X: x.com/litocoen
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DISCLAIMER: Nothing said on The Edge Podcast is a recommendation to buy or sell tokens or securities. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing shared here is financial advice. Any views expressed by hosts or guests on the show are solely their opinions. Always do your own research. DeFi Dad, Nomatic, and guests may have positions in the assets or other matters discussed in this podcast. DeFi Dad and Nomatic hold ENA.
