Ethena raises $100 million in a private sale of ENA tokens: a new crypto fund is coming to expand institutional presence

Ethena recently closed a funding round of $100 million to develop a new crypto fund aimed at traditional financial institutions. Among the various investors, we find institutional players of the caliber of Franklin Templeton and F-Prime Capital.

This step will mark an important milestone towards the integration between the crypto world and that of traditional finance. Let’s see all the details of the news below.

Ethena raises $100 million and launches new crypto fund for the future of digital finance

Ethena has recently secured a $100 million funding with the aim of developing an innovative crypto fund. As reported by Bloomberg, this move strengthens the project’s position in the digital asset market, which now aims for greater inclusion in the TradFi (traditional finance) dynamics.

The operation, which took place in December 2024, was conducted through a private sale of ENA tokens and saw the participation of important players in the financial sector such as Franklin Templeton and F-Prime Capital, the venture capital arm linked to Fidelity Investments. Among the other investors who took part in the funding are Polychain Capital, Dragonfly Capital, and Pantera Capital.

Ethena currently manages two main cryptocurrencies: ENA and USDe. The ENA token acts as a governance token, allowing holders to participate in the project’s decisions. USDe, on the other hand, is a stablecoin pegged to the dollar, which has quickly climbed the rankings to become one of the largest of its kind globally.

Thanks to this new fund, Ethena aims to develop a cryptocurrency dedicated to financial institutions, creating a link between decentralized finance (DeFi) and the traditional banking sector. In particular, the project aims to launch iUSDe, an institutional product designed to be used by traditional financial entities subject to regulatory supervision. Additionally, part of the funds raised will be used to build a new blockchain for the Ethena network and its ecosystem, as well as to finance the buyback of tokens from existing investors to optimize the capital structure.

Source: https://x.com/CryptoRank_VCs/status/1894003527397093699/photo/1

The expansion of Ethena with USDe and ENA

Ethena has demonstrated an impressive growth in the last year, with USDe and ENA assets quickly gaining popularity among crypto users. The launch of the new crypto fund, boosted by the collection of 100 million dollars, will help to further strengthen Ethena’s ecosystem, increasing liquidity and promoting the adoption of its digital assets.

According to the data from Dune Analytics, USDe boasts a supply of 5.8 billion dollars, an increase of approximately 150% compared to the data from May 2024. Despite the growth in the market, since November this algorithmic stablecoin seems to have partially lost the interest of investors, given the drop in the supply locked in stake, which has decreased from 77% to the current 64%.

Very interesting to highlight how USDe is present only for 6.73% on CEX (the majority on Bybit) while for the rest it mainly lives on chains like Mantle, Arbitrum, Optimism, BNB, Fraxtal, Manta, Linea, and Karak

Source: https://dune.com/hashed_official/ethena

Instead, ENA, the governance token of the protocol with a market capitalization of 1.3 billion dollars, has had a different growth path compared to USDe. This cryptocurrency became very popular in Q2 2024, when it was launched on the market with an airdrop dedicated to Ethena users. Following this, there was a temporary bear wave that caused ENA prices to drop, but it was quickly recovered with the bull push from Donald Trump, who purchased the coin with his World Liberty Financial project. Now ENA is traded at 0.41 dollars, down 67% from its local high in December at 1.27 dollars.

Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/it/currencies/ethena/

Conclusions

The confidence shown by new investors suggests that Ethena has the potential to become a key player in the digitalization of global finance with its crypto fund. The idea of empowering a new token designed for traditional financial institutions could be a breakthrough in the sector, as many banks and investment funds are exploring the adoption of blockchain technology. If Ethena manages to position itself as a reliable bridge between the crypto world and the banking sector, it could represent a model for other similar initiatives in the future.