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FIGR_HELOC $1.03 Standard Chartered Sees Ethena ENA Token Hitting $2 by 2028
The forecast assumes the protocol's USDe synthetic dollar grows to $40 billion in supply, and the token's recently approved revenue-funded buyback program
Key takeaways
- 2026 and 2027 ENA forecasts. The bank expects ENA to hit $0.42 by end-2026 and $1.10 by end-2027, per the report.
What happened
The forecast is tied to growth of Ethena's USDe synthetic dollar, which the bank expects to reach $40 billion in supply by 2028, and a revenue-funded ENA buyback program approved by token holders on September 8, 2026. ENA traded near $0.25 on the date the report was published.
Why it matters
The $2 target implies roughly 7x upside from the report's $0.28 reference price, and 700% upside from ENA's Sept. 30 trading price, per the bank. Kendrick's model draws on Uniswap's post-fee-switch buyback rate of 3% to 4% annually, which coincided with a roughly 3x rise in UNI's price after the bank began covering it in June 2025. If USDe hits $40 billion in supply with ENA prices unchanged, the bank calculates annual buybacks would retire 23% of all ENA tokens, a rate it deems unsustainable without a corresponding price increase. Ethena currently ranks fourth in stablecoin market cap behind Tether, Circle and Sky, and USDe hit a $10 billion market cap faster than any prior stablecoin after its late-2023 launch.
What is still unclear
- Key risks to the forecast include slower-than-expected growth in yield-bearing stablecoins, which make up roughly 5% of the total stablecoin market, and failure of tokenized real-world assets to scale as projected by the bank.
Questions readers ask
What is Standard Chartered's ENA price prediction?
Standard Chartered predicts ENA will reach $2 by the end of 2028, with interim targets of $0.42 by end-2026 and $1.10 by end-2027. The forecast assumes USDe supply grows to $40 billion by 2028.
What risks apply to the ENA $2 forecast?
The bank cites slower growth in yield-bearing stablecoins, which make up 5% of the stablecoin market, and slower-than-expected scaling of tokenized real-world assets as key risks to the prediction.
What is Ethena's ENA buyback program?
ENA holders approved a fee switch on September 8, 2026 that directs 95% of Ethena's net revenue to buying back and retiring ENA tokens. The share of revenue used for buybacks increases as USDe supply grows.
