Quick take:
- PayPal Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity via Avon Ventures, and several crypto exchanges including Binance, Deribit, Gemini and Kraken also joined the round.
- Ethena also announced the launch of its Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe.
- The fundraising was structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants.
Ethena has completed a $14 million strategic round via a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE). Dragonfly, Brevan Howard Digital and Maelstrom, a family office founded by BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes co-led the round.
The fundraising also attracted participation from PayPal Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity via Avon Ventures, and several crypto exchanges including Binance, Deribit, Gemini and Kraken.
Guy Young, the founder and CEO of Ethena told The Block, that the fundraising values the Ethereum staking protocol at $300 million. According to Young, his company received $50 million in commitments but chose to close the round at $14 million because it did not need the extra funds at this time.
The company also announced the public launch of its Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe, which has been in stealth mode since December. The USDe stablecoin has already realised more than $224 million in total value locked, according to the announcement.
According to its website, Ethena currently has three products on offer. The USDe stablecoin, which it describes as a delta-neutral synthetic dollar with embedded yield, Internet Bonds — described as globally accessible floating & fixed rate USD-denominated bonds, and Repo Financing.
According to Ethena, the bond allows investors to earn through a staked version of the USDe (sUSDe) by capturing both the inherent staked ether yield and the basis in futures markets. And in the last two years, the bond averaged an annualised return of 12-20%, Ethena told The Block.
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