Ethena Labs adds Bitcoin as USDe backing asset

Ethena Labs has added bitcoin as a backing asset for its USDe synthetic dollar. The decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol said in a series of posts on X on Thursday that backing USDe with bitcoin will increase the scale of its dollar-pegged token by more than 2.5 times and make its product safer for traders. The move comes as the bitcoin derivatives market outpaces its Ethereum-based counterparts. “As Ethena approaches $10 billion in scale, this will provide more solid backing and ultimately a safer product for users,” the protocol said Thursday, adding that USDe’s current supply is worth about $2 billion. Ethena also cited bitcoin’s superior liquidity and maturity profile for delta hedging compared to liquid collateralized tokens as a factor in its decision to add bitcoin as a backing asset. (The Block)