Ethena Integration Is a ‘Massive Leap’ for TON and Telegram Users

Ethena is bringing its popular stablecoin products, USDe and Ethena Staked USDe (sUSDe), to the TON blockchain, giving one billion Telegram users the ability to earn interest on funds stored in their Telegram-based wallets.

Ethena’s USDe and sUSDe were deployed on TON and made available across the blockchain's ecosystem on May 1. Ethena’s sUSDe will be integrated natively on TON as tsUSDe. Per the TON Foundation’s official announcement, the strategic partnership includes two main integrations for Ethena assets: within Telegram’s official in-app custodial wallet, Wallet, as well as within TON’s noncustodial wallet, TON Space, which is also integrated into the popular messaging app.

As of January, TON is the exclusive blockchain for Telegram’s mini-app platform.

Ethena’s USDe is a synthetic dollar — an algorithmic stablecoin — with its peg controlled by derivative contracts to maintain stability and generate yield. Users receive sUSDe, Ethena’s yield-bearing stablecoin, when they stake USDe.

Max Crown, CEO of the TON Foundation, explained the significance of the integration in comments to The Defiant:

“Ethena is a massive leap forward because it’s not just a stablecoin,” Crown stated, adding, “For the first time, users on TON will be able to earn and save on-chain. The return on digital dollars, available inside Telegram in just two taps, is a simple but powerful value proposition.”

The goal, Crown told The Defiant via Telegram, is to reach mainstream users. “For those outside the crypto-native crowd, this clearly and immediately shows why crypto can matter in everyday life.”

Wallet integration is key

An important factor for user experience is Ethena’s integration into Telegram-based wallets. Aside from Telegram’s own Wallet and TON Space, the stablecoin will also be available in other major TON wallets, including Tonkeeper, Tonhub and MyTonWallet.

Telegram has said that 100 million users have signed up for its Wallet app, most of them new to crypto, TechCrunch reported in March.

Eligible holders of tsUSDe within major TON wallets will earn a 10% yield paid in TON, and will also get Ethena rewards on holdings of up to 10,000 tsUSDs per wallet. Plans for other rewards programs are in the works, the TON Foundation said in the release.

“Integration into Wallet in Telegram instantly puts Ethena in front of 100 million active users, with seamless access to yield-bearing savings through a platform that one billion people use every day,” Crown told The Defiant. “It’s a really compelling onboarding funnel and a gateway to broader DeFi adoption, all within one of the world's most popular, well-known interfaces.”

Having TON natively accessible within Telegram and available to its over a billion monthly active users “is a perfect venue to distribute Ethena’s core product USDe as a dollar savings vehicle for global users,” Ethena Founder Guy Young said in the announcement.

Beyond that, he added that Ethena intends to bring payments and neobank functions to Telegram in further phases of the partnership with the TON Foundation.

The TON Foundation’s rapid growth from 4 million to 41 million active accounts over the past year enabled it to raise $400 million from investors, the team revealed in March. Backers include venture capital giants Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Paradigm, Benchmark, Kingsway, and Draper Associates

USDe is not the first stablecoin available on TON and integrated on Telegram. That would be the largest stablecoin, Tether’s USDT, which was launched on TON, and integrated into Telegram, in April 2024, allowing users to send USDT on TON directly within the messaging app.

Ethena's USDe has a market capitalization of nearly $4.7 billion, compared to USDT’s almost $149 billion.

On the heels of Libre

The Telegram partnership news came a day after the TON Foundation announced plans to tokenize $500 million in Telegram bonds by launching a tokenized Telegram Bond Fund ($TBF) on the TON blockchain.

The fund is a partnership with Libre, a provider of onchain infrastructure for regulated real-world assets (RWAs). It will allow institutional and accredited investors to buy RWA bonds with either fiat or stablecoins. Investors will be able to manage their assets from TON-native wallets.

The partnership will focus on institutional and accredited investors across the TON ecosystem, allowing them access to “institutional-grade yield products in a DeFi native format,” the TON Foundation said in a blog post announcing the move.

“Momentum is real,” Crown told The Defiant. “The launches of Ethena and Libre are foundational to our 2025 vision: To make crypto as easy and as simple as sending a text. From savings and payments to games and AI, our core focus areas are starting to take shape.

The TON Foundation’s partnerships have let it move beyond hype, Crown added.

“It’s about building real-world utility, and by that I mean accessible value, into the apps people use every day,” he said.