From 0 to $12.4 billion blitzkrieg, how did Ethena build the fastest-growing "money printing machine" in history?
Written by: thetokendispatch
Compilation: Vernacular blockchain
A crypto protocol launched only 18 months ago, USDe's circulating market capitalization has reached $12.4 billion, setting a record for the fastest growth in the history of the digital dollar. In contrast, USDT didn't reach $12 billion until mid-2020 (after years of slow growth), while USDC only surpassed $10 billion in March 2021. And Ethena's USDe seems to have completed a speed spurt on the financial track.
How did they do it so quickly? What are the risks behind it? Is this model sustainable, or is it just another Terra (Luna) that could collapse at any moment?
Ethena, the world's largest arbitrage trade
, has found a way to turn the crypto market's never-ending thirst for leverage into a money-making machine. In simple terms: hold crypto assets while hedging the same amount of short positions in the futures market to earn the difference. This creates a...