Ethena ends token incentives for USDe after 85% decline in rewards

Ethena is pulling the plug on ENA token incentives for USDe stakers, marking the end of a rewards program that once powered one of crypto’s fastest-growing stablecoin experiments. The incentives have been cut by roughly 85% since 2024, and after this month, they drop to zero. The incentive era winds down Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe, rode a wave of generous ENA token emissions to scale rapidly. The protocol has distributed over $750 million in total rewards to users since launch, a staggering sum that helped USDe’s circulating supply balloon to approximately $15 billion at its peak in October 2025. USDe’s supply has since contracted by more than 65%, falling below $5 billion as of late August 2026. The 85% reduction in discretionary ENA rewards tracked a cooling funding-rate environment, the very mechanism that generates yield for USDe holders. When perpetual futures funding rates run hot, Ethena’s delta-neutral strategy prints money. When they cool off, the economics get tighter, and subsidizing growth with token emissions becomes harder to justify. Governance gets a makeover The Ethena Foundation terminated recurring ENA investor unlocks as of October 5, 2026, completing a buy...