Ethena Network Proposal Introduces Native DEX

A recent post in the Ethena governance forum proposes the launch and direct integration of Ethereal, a spot and perpetual futures decentralized exchange (DEX) to be launched on the Ethena Network.

The proposal submitted on Sept. 29 requests Ethereal’s direct integration into “Ethena-related reserve management from launch to provide a fully onchain venue for management of spot and derivative positions backing USDe.”

USDe is Ethena’s native stablecoin and is the fourth-largest with a $2.5 billion market capitalization, according to DeFiLlama.

The author of the proposal, Fells0x, pitches Ethereal as a way to boost the demand and decentralization of USDe, and promises a “15% allocation of any potential Ethereal governance token in the future” for the Ethena community to “ensure alignment.” It is assumed Fells0x is directly affiliated with the Ethereal team but currently remains anonymous.

Ethena Labs acknowledged the proposal and will put it up for a snapshot vote later today. It also clarified that if the proposal is approved, the reserve management rollout phase will be slow and controlled, with “both the Ethena team and the Ethena Risk Committee closely monitoring the launch of Ethereal.”

Ethena’s ENA rallied 6% today, potentially catalyzed by the proposal and the potential Ethereal airdrop. ENA traded as high as $0.42, a 15% rally from the pre-proposal price.