Ethena extends USDe backing to equity perpetuals with $6B open interest

Ethena, the protocol behind the USDe synthetic dollar, is expanding its delta-neutral backing strategy beyond crypto into equity perpetual futures, a market that has quietly amassed over $6 billion in open interest. The move represents the most significant shift in USDe’s collateral architecture since the protocol launched. The core bet is straightforward: equity perps now carry high funding rates, and the total addressable market for equities dwarfs crypto. Ethena expects equity perpetuals to surpass crypto as the primary yield source backing USDe within 12 to 24 months. From crypto basis trades to synthetic stocks Ethena’s original model was elegant in its simplicity. Hold spot crypto, short the equivalent in perpetual futures, and pocket the funding rate. The spread between spot and futures prices, known as the basis, generated the yield that backed USDe. The extension into equity perps applies that same delta-neutral framework to synthetic versions of stocks and commodities. Platforms like Hyperliquid and Binance now offer perpetual futures on major equities. Following Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 equity perps framework, which launched around October 2025, weekly trading volumes surged ...