Ethena Labs Announces Airdrop Date of Native Token ENA

Synthetic stablecoin startup Ethena Labs has announced it is one step closer to the holy grail of internet money.

After six weeks of Ethena’s “Shard Campaign,” or points system, which saw the total supply of its stablecoin, USDe, balloon to $1.3 billion, the ecosystem is ready to begin distributing its second native token, tickered ENA.

Launching the ENA token, according to the team, marks the beginning of the decentralization of the Ethena protocol.

Beginning April 2, ENA will be eligible for claim on the project’s official claim website, as centralized exchanges get ready for listing. On this date, the project will distribute 750 million ENA, or 5% of the total 15 billion supply.

The 5% allocated to the airdrop will come from the overall 30% that belongs to Ecosystem Development.

ENA will play a pivotal role in governance, according to the team. Voting using the token will go to deciding general risk management frameworks, USDe backing composition, exchange and custodian exposure, community grants, and size of Reserve Fund, among other uses.

Calling it the holy grail of internet money is a lofty claim.

According to Guy Young, Ethena Labs’ founder, the holy grail of crypto is building or attaining the status of money.

“BTC and ETH converge to trying to become money,” he told The Defiant, and that Ethena’s mission–and holy grail–is creating their own native version of internet money.

For eligibility, users that stake, hold USDe in incentivized pools, LP pools, or Pendle Finance, must leave their tokens in their respective wallets and protocols.

Additionally, holders of two NFT collections–SchizoPosters and Redacted Remilio Babies–will receive 3% of the initial airdrop amount.

Ethena’s Controversial Stablecoin USDe

Ethena Labs’ caused a stir in the crypto industry on February 19 after it announced a 27% yield on its native stablecoin, USDe.

Double digit yield-bearing assets reminded Crypto Twitter of Terra’s UST algorithmic stablecoin, which saw its demise in early May 2022, causing a death spiral that wiped out $50 billion in market capitalization in three days.

But the synthetic stablecoin has been lauded by many for its architecture, which backs the token that is pegged to $1 with staked Ethereum, while also hedging stETH with short ETH positions on centralized exchanges. Both stETH and short positions contribute to yield that’s passed on to stablecoin holders.

Austin Campbell, founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting firm, said Ethena is a “truly interesting experiment” and is substituting credit risk with price risk.

His view echoed that of Ryan Watkins, co-founder of Syncracy Capital, who said USDe should be conceptualized as a structured product, and that it offers a “key source” of liquidity.