Project & Team
Description of Project
Provide a concise narrative that clearly states each of (a)–(e) below.
- (a) Problem the project solves — The problem the project is solving.
- (b) Operational priorities — Provide a high-level description of how the project expects to support ongoing development and operations over time.
- (c) High-level project overview — How the project works at a high level.
- (d) Primary token functions — The primary functions of the token (e.g. gov participation).
- (e) Control surface reliance — If any, briefly describe the anticipated or possible evolution of the protocol's governance/control model.
(a) Problem the project solves
Ethena addresses the need for a crypto-native synthetic dollar and savings asset built on crypto rails. The protocol issues USDe, a dollar-denominated digital asset designed for capital efficiency, resilience across market cycles, and infrastructure that captures available sources of dollar returns within reserve assets. Ethena also issues sUSDe as an autonomously and permissionlessly created, globally accessible savings asset.
(b) Operational priorities
Ethena expects to support ongoing development and operations through protocol revenue generated from funding and basis on delta-neutral positions, returns on overcollateralised lending of stable assets, returns on tokenised real-world assets held as backing, and rewards on liquid stablecoin holdings. The Foundation allocation is intended to widen the reach of USDe and fund further development, risk assessments, audits, and related initiatives. Operational transparency and control processes include a multi-phased audit program and recurring custodian attestations and proof-of-reserves updates.
(c) High-level project overview
Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol built on crypto rails. It issues USDe, a dollar-denominated digital asset, and sUSDe, a globally accessible savings asset. USDe derives its relative peg stability from a diversified portfolio of backing assets and hedging the price-change risk of volatile holdings: volatile assets such as spot crypto are paired with corresponding short derivatives positions in approximately the same notional size, so movements in the spot asset are generally offset by movements in the hedge. Stable assets in the backing portfolio include liquid stablecoins and short-duration real-world assets, which already hold a stable dollar value and require no hedge. The combined position is intended to form delta-neutral backing whose synthetic dollar value remains relatively stable across most market conditions. Direct minting and redemption are limited to approved market-making counterparties that clear KYC/KYB checks. Protocol revenue is generated from funding and basis on delta-neutral positions, returns on overcollateralised lending of stable assets, returns on tokenised real-world assets held as backing, and rewards on liquid stablecoin holdings. USDe holders may receive incentive reward distributions by staking into sUSDe.
(d) Primary token functions
ENA is the governance token of the Ethena protocol. ENA is used to govern protocol parameters, including the composition of USDe backing, the introduction of new backing strategies, the future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. The primary role of ENA governance tokenholders is initially to appoint committee members on a rotating basis, and governance is accessible wherever ENA is held. ENA may also be deposited into the staking contract to receive sENA, the staked form of ENA, which is a route through which ENA holders participate in governance. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets.
(e) Control surface reliance
Ethena uses a committee-based governance model because, given the protocol’s reliance on off-chain infrastructure, fully on-chain governance is not practical or viable at present. The primary initial role of ENA governance tokenholders is to appoint committee members on a rotating basis, while the Ethena Foundation acts as steward for the protocol and wider ecosystem, taking ENA tokenholder votes into account. The governance/control model may evolve through ENA governance over protocol parameters, including the composition of USDe backing, new backing strategies, future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. Risk Committee voting-member terms lapse every six months and the positions are returned to governance every six months. A separate control surface remains at the smart-contract administration layer: the Dev Multisig owns Ethena’s deployed mainnet smart contracts and can modify contract parameters.
Known Project Team
For each existing entity: Labs/DevCo (e.g., Founder, CEO, CTO, COO), Foundation (e.g., President, Executive Director, CFO, COO), and DAO / onchain governance leadership (if applicable) list the:
- (a) full names,
- (b) official titles,
- (c) and prior experience of key team members.
For any non-existent entity, explicitly mention it does not exist. External links may be included but they will not factor into the score.
Labs / DevCo
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
Guy Young | Founder of Ethena Labs, S.A.; Co-founder and CEO of Ethena | Experience working across Investment Banking, Hedge Fund and Private Equity Roles. Prior to founding Ethena Labs spent 6 years at Cerberus Capital Management focused on investments across the capital structure in the financial services space in banks, specialty finance, insurance, FinTech and non-performing loan situations |
Foundation
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
Marc Piano | Director of the Ethena Foundation | Foundation director across several protocols |
DAO / Onchain Governance
Full Name | Official Title | Prior Experience |
|---|---|---|
Not applicable — Ethena does not have a DAO. | No DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists for Ethena. |
DAO Structure
Provide a structured description of the DAO's governance, powers, and economic rights. If a DAO does not exist, state so for each sub question. Even if there is no DAO, there must be an answer to (d). Address the lettered items below.
- (a) IP ownership & control — State what IP the DAO owns or controls (e.g., codebases/repos, trademarks/brands). Note any license if relevant.
- (b) Contract/admin powers — List on-chain or administrative authorities and limits: pause/upgrade roles (e.g., multisig pause), governance-executor authorities, and the method of authority for each (e.g., veto, majority, super-majority).
- (c) Locked-token rights (conditional) — If locking/staking for additional rights exists, explain the additional rights and what tokenholders can and cannot decide. If no locking mechanism exists, leave absent.
- (d) Current tokenholder governance rights and economic arrangements — If any, describe the current governance rights of tokenholders and any presently operative rights or arrangements relating to treasury actions, fee-routing, rewards, buybacks, or other protocol-controlled resources. If none, state that explicitly.
- (e) Control surface reliance — If any, briefly describe the anticipated or possible evolution of the protocol's governance/control model.
- (f) Dissolution authority — State who can dissolve/wind up the DAO and by what mechanism (e.g., on-chain vote threshold, board resolution of a legal wrapper).
(a) IP ownership & control
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. Accordingly, no DAO-owned or DAO-controlled IP, including codebases, repositories, trademarks, or brands, is disclosed in this filing.
(b) Contract/admin powers
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists for Ethena. Ethena publishes the administrative addresses that hold control over its deployed contracts. The dev multisig owns Ethena’s deployed mainnet smart contracts and can modify contract parameters; the dev multisig is disclosed as 5/11. The minting contract includes operational controls and limits, including atomic execution, signature verification, supported-asset allowlists, custodian allowlists, and per-block mint or redeem caps. Gatekeeper checks can disable minting and redeeming USDe if the system detects discrepancies.
(c) Locked-token rights (conditional)
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. ENA may be locked by staking into sENA, the staked form of ENA. Holders deposit ENA into the staking contract and receive sENA, an ERC-20 token representing their position; the staking contract is implemented as an ERC-4626 wrapper, and unstaking is subject to a cooldown period before ENA can be withdrawn. Staking ENA into sENA signals long-term alignment with the protocol and is a route through which ENA holders participate in governance. ENA governance is used to govern protocol parameters, including the composition of USDe backing, the introduction of new backing strategies, the future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. Ethena uses a committee-based governance model; fully on-chain governance is not practical or viable at present, and the primary role of ENA governance tokenholders is initially to appoint committee members on a rotating basis. The Ethena Foundation acts as steward on behalf of the protocol and the wider ecosystem, taking ENA tokenholder votes into account. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets, although future allocation of protocol revenue is within the scope of ENA governance.
(d) Current tokenholder governance rights and economic arrangements
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. ENA is the governance token of the Ethena protocol. ENA tokenholder governance relates to protocol parameters, including the composition of USDe backing, introduction of new backing strategies, future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. Governance is accessible wherever ENA is held, and staking ENA into sENA is a route through which ENA holders participate in governance. Ethena uses a committee-based governance model because fully on-chain governance is not presently practical or viable; the primary role of ENA governance tokenholders is initially to appoint committee members on a rotating basis, and the Ethena Foundation acts as steward on behalf of the protocol and wider ecosystem, taking ENA tokenholder votes into account. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets. Presently disclosed fee-routing arrangements include the March 6, 2026 governance update stating that approximately 54.6% of USDe fees were directed to sUSDe rewards, 27.9% to partner rewards, and 17.5% to the Aave liquid leverage program.
(e) Control surface reliance
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. The protocol currently uses a committee-based governance model because, due to the protocol design and its reliance on off-chain infrastructure, fully on-chain governance is not practical or viable at present. ENA governance tokenholders’ primary role is initially to appoint committee members on a rotating basis, with the Ethena Foundation acting as steward on behalf of the protocol and wider ecosystem while taking ENA tokenholder votes into account. Possible areas for governance evolution include ENA-governed protocol parameters such as the composition of USDe backing, introduction of new backing strategies, future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. Operational control over deployed mainnet smart contracts is held by the Dev Multisig, which can modify contract parameters.
(f) Dissolution authority
Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. Accordingly, there is no DAO dissolution or wind-up authority or DAO dissolution mechanism to disclose.
Primary Foundation
For the Primary Foundation do the following independently. If a Foundation does not exist, state so for each sub question. Items (a)–(f) apply only if that entity exists; state explicitly that the entity doesn't exist. Definition: The primary Foundation can be explained as the entity which is directly involved in the issuance of the native token at launch.
- (a) Entity — Type and jurisdiction.
- (b) IP ownership & control — What IP the entity owns/controls (repos/code, trademarks/brand; license optional)
- (c) Powers over DAO, treasury, protocol-controlled resources, and token administration — If any, describe the current powers over DAO governance, treasury actions, protocol-controlled resources (e.g. revenue), token administration, or reward parameters, and the method/threshold for each.
- (d) Powers over DevCo — Explain whether the foundation can exert direct or indirect influence over decision-making of the DevCo.
- (e) Contract/admin powers — Pause/upgrade/governance-executor authorities, and the method/threshold for each (e.g., veto/majority/super-majority).
- (f) Current economic arrangements and distribution policies — Describe any current governance-approved, contractual, or programmatic mechanisms, if any, by which protocol-controlled resources, treasury assets, fees, revenue, rewards, or token distributions may be directed to this entity, its equityholders, contributors, or other participants. If no such mechanism currently exists, state that explicitly.
(a) Entity
The primary Foundation is the Ethena Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company.
(b) IP ownership & control
The Ethena Foundation is the foundation entity acting as steward of the Ethena ecosystem and is a Cayman Islands foundation company.
(c) Powers over DAO, treasury, protocol-controlled resources, and token administration
The Ethena Foundation exists and acts as steward of the Ethena ecosystem. Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists, so DAO-governance powers are not applicable. For governance-related committee administration, the Ethena Foundation screens and short-lists Risk Committee applicants, requires KYC or KYB completion, and runs the Snapshot-based election process; the disclosed method is Snapshot voting after Foundation screening, but no voting threshold is disclosed. For treasury resources, 15% of ENA is allocated to the Foundation, and that allocation is intended to widen the reach of USDe and fund further development, risk assessments, audits, and related initiatives; no approval method or threshold for use of that allocation is disclosed. For token administration and rewards, Ethena OpCo Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ethena Foundation, the Ethena Foundation is the sole director of Ethena OpCo Ltd., and ENA distributions, including airdrops and rewards programs displayed on the app, are managed by Ethena OpCo Ltd. and other independent third parties; no specific approval method or threshold is disclosed. For protocol-controlled resources, the future allocation of protocol revenue is within the scope of ENA governance, and the Ethena Foundation acts as steward on behalf of the protocol and wider ecosystem, taking ENA tokenholder votes into account; there is no formal threshold or quorum defined yet in ENA voting.
(d) Powers over DevCo
The Ethena Foundation acts as the steward of the Ethena ecosystem. Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity. Ethena Labs, S.A. and its affiliates act as service providers to the Ethena Foundation and Ethena OpCo Ltd. The filing does not otherwise disclose whether the Ethena Foundation can exert direct or indirect influence over decision-making of Ethena Labs, S.A.
(e) Contract/admin powers
The Ethena Foundation has no contract or admin powers over USDe contracts.
(f) Current economic arrangements and distribution policies
The Ethena Foundation is a Cayman Islands foundation company and acts as steward of the Ethena ecosystem. Ethena OpCo Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ethena Foundation, and the Ethena Foundation is the sole director of Ethena OpCo Ltd. Current disclosed mechanisms include: (i) a 15% ENA allocation to the Foundation, intended to widen the reach of USDe and fund further development, risk assessments, audits, and related initiatives; (ii) ENA distributions, including airdrops and rewards programs displayed on the app, managed by Ethena OpCo Ltd. and other independent third parties; (iii) a 30% ENA core contributor allocation for the Ethena Labs team and advisors, subject to a one-year 25% cliff and three years of linear monthly vesting thereafter; (iv) a 30% ENA ecosystem allocation, with the first 10% of total ENA supply within that bucket covering the first and second seasons of rewards campaigns and the remainder intended for broader Ethena initiatives; and (v) community reward distributions, including Seasons 1 through 5 and exchange-reward airdrops as disclosed. USDe holders are eligible to receive incentive reward distributions by staking into sUSDe. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets, although the future allocation of protocol revenue is within the scope of ENA governance. The March 6, 2026 governance update stated that monthly protocol revenue fell from $29.8 million in January to $21.2 million in February and that USDe fees were directed 54.6% to sUSDe rewards, 27.9% to partner rewards, and 17.5% to the Aave liquid leverage program. Future protocol revenue allocation is subject to ENA governance.
Primary DevCo
For the Primary DevCo do the following independently. If an entity does not exist, state that explicitly across each sub-question. Items (a)–(f) apply only if that entity exists; state explicitly that the entity doesn't exist. Definition: The primary DevCo can be explained as the entity which is directly involved in the issuance of the native token at launch.
- (a) Entity — Type and jurisdiction.
- (b) IP ownership & control — What IP the entity owns/controls (repos/code, trademarks/brand; license optional)
- (c) Powers over DAO, treasury, protocol-controlled resources, and token administration — If any, describe the current powers over DAO governance, treasury actions, protocol-controlled resources (e.g. revenue), token administration, or reward parameters, and the method/threshold for each.
- (d) Powers over Foundation — Explain whether the DevCo can exert direct or indirect influence over decision-making of the Foundation.
- (e) Contract/admin powers — Pause/upgrade/governance-executor authorities and the method/threshold for each (e.g., veto/majority/super-majority; "3/5 multisig").
- (f) Current economic arrangements and distribution policies — Describe any current governance-approved, contractual, or programmatic mechanisms, if any, by which protocol-controlled resources, treasury assets, fees, revenue, rewards, or token distributions may be directed to this entity, its equityholders, contributors, or other participants. If no such mechanism currently exists, state that explicitly. Do not discuss hypothetical future dividends, repurchases, or distributions unless formally adopted.
(a) Entity
Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity. It is a Portuguese company limited by shares.
(c) Powers over DAO, treasury, protocol-controlled resources, and token administration
Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity and is a Portuguese company limited by shares. Ethena Labs, S.A. and its affiliates act as service providers to the Ethena Foundation and Ethena OpCo Ltd. Ethena does not have a DAO, and no DAO entity or on-chain governance wrapper exists. Ethena Labs Research sits on the Risk Committee as a non-voting member, may make proposals on the Risk Committee, receives no compensation for that role, and Ethena Labs, S.A. holds no vote on the Risk Committee. Ethena Labs, S.A. holds no membership or ownership interest in the Ethena Foundation, has no right to appoint or remove directors of the Ethena Foundation, and does not direct the decisions of the Ethena Foundation. ENA distributions, including airdrops and rewards programs displayed on the app, are managed by Ethena OpCo Ltd. and other independent third parties.
(d) Powers over Foundation
Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity. Ethena Labs, S.A. and its affiliates act as service providers to the Ethena Foundation and Ethena OpCo Ltd., but Ethena Labs, S.A. holds no membership or ownership interest in the Ethena Foundation, has no right to appoint or remove directors of the Ethena Foundation, and does not direct the decisions of the Ethena Foundation.
(e) Contract/admin powers
Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity. Ethena publishes the administrative addresses that hold control over its deployed contracts. Ethena’s deployed mainnet smart contracts are owned by the Dev Multisig, which can modify contract parameters and has a 5/11 signer threshold.
(f) Current economic arrangements and distribution policies
Ethena Labs, S.A. is the primary development entity. Ethena Labs, S.A. and its affiliates act as service providers to the Ethena Foundation and Ethena OpCo Ltd. The disclosed token-distribution mechanism benefiting DevCo-related contributors is the Core Contributors allocation: 30% of ENA is allocated to core contributors, representing distributions to the Ethena Labs team and advisors. ENA has a fixed total supply of 15 billion tokens. The Core Contributors allocation is subject to a one-year 25% cliff and three years of linear monthly vesting thereafter; the unlock schedule began at ENA TGE on March 5, 2024, and no core contributor tokens were unlocked before the one-year cliff. Separately, 15% of ENA is allocated to the Foundation to widen the reach of USDe and fund further development, risk assessments, audits, and related initiatives, and 30% of ENA is allocated to Ecosystem initiatives, with the remainder of that allocation intended for broader Ethena initiatives. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets.
Token Supply & Allocations
Initial Allocation
Download the Worksheet, enable macros, complete the Initial Allocation sheet, then use Convert To CSV to export the file for import here. To make edits after importing, update the worksheet, use Convert To CSV again, then re-import the new CSV.
Ticker | Date | Allocation Category Name | Recipient Type | Allocation % | Allocation Tokens | TGE Unlock % | TGE Unlock Tokens | Cliff Months | Cliff Unlock % | Linear Vesting Months | Cadence Months | Circulating Treatment | Notes on what each category is used for | If applicable: Contract / Wallet address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Core Contributors | Insiders | 0.3 | 4500000000 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.25 | 36 | 1 | No | Team | — |
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Investors | Private / VC | 0.25 | 3750000000 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.25 | 36 | 1 | No | Investors | — |
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Foundation | Treasury | 0.15 | 2250000000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.13333333333333333 | 48 | 1 | Conditional | Foundation. Conditional — use of this allocation depends on a Foundation decision to sell or return the tokens to the Treasury. | — |
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Ecosystem Development and Airdrops - Launch Airdrop (Season 1) | Community | 0.075 | 1125000000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Conditional | Season 1 Airdrop. Ethena reclaimed the unclaimed tokens from this airdrop. These reclaimed tokens have been returned to the Treasury. Their use case is still being determined. | — |
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Ecosystem Development and Airdrops - Sats Campaign Airdrop (Season 2) | Community | 0.05 | 750000000 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Conditional | Season 2 Airdrop. Ethena reclaimed the unclaimed tokens from this airdrop. These reclaimed tokens have been returned to the Treasury. Their use case is still being determined. | — |
ENA | 2024-03-05 | Ecosystem Development and Airdrops - Monthly Programme Releases | Ecosystem | 0.175 | 2625000000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 1 | No | Monthly Ecosystem unlocks to fund airdrops and other ecosystem matters | — |
Airdrop Process
State the project's airdrop status plainly, and back it up:
- Never conducted and none planned for TGE: state so plainly.
- Planned but not yet executed: state the target user segments (e.g., "stakers of X," "Aave users") and the allocation method (e.g., proportional to balance or net position), and commit to publishing a recipient wallet list in a public channel and providing it to Blockworks quarterly until the initial TGE airdrop is fully completed.
- Already executed: state the covered user segments and the allocation method, and point to a per-address source such as CSV/TSV/JSON files, a Dune table, a full Merkle dump, GitHub repo files embedding per-address allocations, or RPC endpoints that expose claim/amount data; explorer links alone do not count.
ENA airdrops and rewards programs have already been executed. ENA distributions, including airdrops and rewards programs displayed on the app, are managed by Ethena OpCo Ltd. and other independent third parties. Executed community reward distributions include S1: 5.00% / 750,000,000 ENA; S2: 5.00% / 750,000,000 ENA; S3: 3.50% / 525,000,000 ENA; S4: 2.50% / 375,000,000 ENA; S4 HyENA: 1.00% / 150,000,000 ENA; HyENA Exchange Rewards Airdrop: 0.11% / 16,856,250 ENA; Ethereal Exchange Rewards Airdrop: 0.14% / 20,643,750 ENA; and S5: 2.00% / 300,000,000 ENA. For Season 3, the covered user segment was protocol users, and allocation was based on user activity and staking over the prior six months; the top 2,000 participating wallets received a portion of rewards as time-vested tokens, while smaller participants received unlocked ENA. Per-address allocation data for Season 5, including recipient address, points earned, and ENA and sENA grant amounts, is published at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LTJzNpN4DcsZioWY68jpO2gaufnissD0igHYnk3XDp0/edit?gid=0#gid=0.
Transactions & Market Structures
Market Maker Agreements & Deals
Projects must disclose all material terms of market-making arrangements that affect token liquidity. If the project has no agreements or deals with market makers, state that explicitly. For each market maker, include in a table:
- (a) Market maker's name — the market maker's name;
- (b) Token allocation or loaned amount — the token allocation or loaned amount as a percentage of total supply;
- (c) Duration/term of agreement — the duration/term of the agreement; and, where applicable,
- (d) Name of agreement structure — label the financial vehicle being used in the agreement (i.e. loan, option/call, retainer model).
If no native tokens were loaned or allocated to market makers, state that explicitly; cash/fiat retainers or fees are not required for (b).
Market Maker Name | Token Allocation Committed | Term Duration | Structure Name |
|---|---|---|---|
Confidential | 6,000,000 ENA | 12 months | Token loan with call |
Confidential | 10,000,000 ENA | 12 months | Token loan with call |
Confidential | 10,000,000 ENA | 12 months | Fixed-term token loan with call option |
Confidential | 20,000,000 ENA | 12 months | Fixed-term token loan with call option |
Exchange Agreements & Deals
Projects must disclose all material terms of centralized or decentralized exchange listings that affect token liquidity. For each listing, include in a table:
- (a) Exchange name / DEX pool — the exchange name (and, for DEX, the specific pool/pair);
- (b) Token allocation for listing — the token allocation supplied or committed for listing as a percentage of total supply;
- (c) Term Duration — the duration/term of any listing lockups, liquidity, or incentive programs; and, where applicable,
- (d) Native-token listing fees — whether any listing fees were paid in native tokens, with amounts (tokens or % of supply), recipients, and any vesting or lock terms tied to the partnership.
If the project has no agreements or deals with CEX or DEX, state that explicitly; doing so earns full credit; cash/fiat fee amounts are not required for this item.
Exchange Name | Token Allocation Committed | Term Duration | Native Token Listing Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
TIER 1 — MAJOR GLOBAL VENUES | Across all listings, roughly 2% of total ENA supply has been spent on exchange listings. | Any related vesting or lock terms for those listing arrangements are subject to binding confidentiality obligations and cannot be disclosed. | Paid listing arrangements existed. Across all listings, roughly 2% of total ENA supply has been spent on exchange listings. The fees, form of consideration, recipients, and any related vesting or lock terms are subject to binding confidentiality obligations and cannot be disclosed. |
Financial Disclosures & Risks
Prior Token Sales & Fundraising
Disclose all prior token sales by the Project — including fundraising rounds, any material OTC sales to investors, and any discounted market-maker sales. For each sale, provide:
- (a) Series Name;
- (b) Early-Stage Investment Instrument used (i.e. SAFT, STAMP, SAFE, SAFE+Token Warrant, etc.);
- (c) Date of sale (at least month & year);
- (d) Number of tokens sold (or % of total supply);
- (e) Vesting schedule.
If no prior sales occurred, state that explicitly (e.g., "No prior fundraising, OTC, or discounted MM sales have occurred.").
Series Name | Investment Instrument | Date Of Sale | Number of tokens sold | Vesting Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seed fundraising round led by Dragonfly | 2023-07 | Not disclosed in this filing | Not disclosed in this filing | |
Fundraising round publicly described as a $14 million raise, later subject to correction and investor-list changes in public reporting | 2024-02 | Not disclosed in this filing | Not disclosed in this filing | |
Investor token-rights allocation for investors backing protocol development | Token rights | 25% of ENA allocation | One-year 25% cliff and three years of linear monthly vesting, with no tokens unlocked before the cliff. Unlock schedules began at ENA TGE on March 5, 2024. | |
StablecoinX signing PIPE and discounted locked-ENA purchase structure | PIPE and locked-ENA purchase structure | 2025-07-21 | Approximately $101 million of the PIPE was paid in ENA; number of ENA tokens or percentage of total supply is not disclosed in this filing | Locked ENA could not be transferred for 48 months after the agreement date; 25% unlocked at the 12-month anniversary of closing; remaining 75% unlocked in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter. |
StablecoinX additional PIPE and follow-on discounted locked-ENA purchase structure | Additional PIPE and follow-on locked-ENA purchase structure | 2025-09-05 | 914,341,825.83 locked ENA sale tokens | Additional locked ENA could not be transferred for 48 months; 25% unlocked on the 12-month anniversary of completion; remaining 75% unlocked in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter. |
Previous Exploits Affecting The Native Token
If any, list prior exploits or incidents that directly affected the token, token supply, tokenholder balances, token contract, minting controls, burn mechanics, or custody of token supply. This question is not asking about general protocol, application, or smart contract exploits unless the incident directly affected the native token itself. If no prior incidents, state this explicitly (e.g., "No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of YYYY-MM-DD").
- (a) Date & component affected — Date (YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD), chain(s)/component affected.
- (b) Exploit vector summary — Plain-language summary of the exploit vector (what the hack was).
- (c) Quantified impact — Quantified impact (assets/tokens affected or a clear "no loss of funds" statement).
- (d) Remediation/response taken — Remediation/response taken (patches, upgrades, governance actions, compensation).
- (e) Current status — Current status (resolved, in litigation, under investigation, refunded, etc.).
- (f) References — Link(s) to post-mortem/advisory/PR.
(a) Date & component affected
No date or token component is disclosed for any prior exploit or incident affecting the token. No exploit of Ethena’s smart contracts or infrastructure has caused a loss of protocol funds as of the date of publication, and no confirmed loss of protocol funds was identified. No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of 2026-08-25"
(b) Exploit vector summary
No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of 2026-08-25. The closest public incident was the February 2025 Bybit wallet hack, which was a wallet hack at Bybit and was treated as an external venue event rather than an exploit of Ethena smart contracts. Ethena Labs confirmed the protocol remained unimpacted.
(c) Quantified impact
No confirmed loss of protocol funds was identified. The closest public incident was the February 2025 Bybit wallet hack, which was a Bybit wallet hack rather than an Ethena smart-contract exploit. Ethena had approximately $30 million in unrealized PnL on Bybit, which was quickly reduced to zero, and serviced more than $120 million in USDe redemptions during the stress period.
(d) Remediation/response taken
No exploit of Ethena’s smart contracts or infrastructure has caused a loss of protocol funds as of the date of publication, and no confirmed loss of protocol funds was identified. In response to the February 2025 Bybit market-stress episode, Ethena Labs confirmed the protocol remained unimpacted, quickly reduced approximately $30 million in unrealized PnL on Bybit to zero, reduced direct Bybit exposure to zero, relied on custodial and off-exchange-settlement structures intended to keep backing assets outside exchange custody, used a reserve fund plus a stablecoin buffer to continue processing redemptions, and serviced over $120 million in USDe redemptions during the stress period.
(e) Current status
No exploit of Ethena’s smart contracts or infrastructure has caused a loss of protocol funds as of the date of publication. The February 2025 Bybit wallet hack is treated as an external venue event rather than a protocol exploit; Ethena Labs confirmed that the protocol remained unimpacted, no confirmed loss of protocol funds was identified, direct Bybit exposure was reduced to zero, and market concerns subsided shortly after that confirmation. No exploits affecting tokenholders or protocol funds as of 2026-08-25
(f) References
No post-mortem, advisory, or PR links for an incident directly affecting the token are disclosed. No exploit of Ethena’s smart contracts or infrastructure has caused a loss of protocol funds as of the date of publication; the closest public incident was the February 2025 Bybit wallet hack, which was treated as an external venue event rather than a protocol exploit.
Material Risk Factors (Regulation, Technology, Token Economics)
Describe material risk factors across the three categories below. Each category includes prompts to address at a minimum.
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(a) Regulatory, Legal & Tax Risks — Describe how evolving laws and regulations could affect the project by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
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Impact of Regulatory Change on TGE and Listings: (If applicable) How could evolving or conflicting laws and regulations affect your ability to complete the TGE, deliver tokens to purchasers, and list or maintain the token on trading venues in key jurisdictions?
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Entity-Level Regulatory Impact: (If applicable) How could regulatory or legal changes impact your core entities (Foundation, DevCo, DAO, affiliated service providers), including enforcement actions, licensing requirements, or forced changes to structure or operations?
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Tokenholder Tax Treatment: (If applicable) What uncertainties exist around how tokenholders may be taxed, and make clear that tokenholders are responsible for understanding their own tax obligations?
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Jurisdictional & User Access Restrictions: (If applicable) If the project restricts access for certain jurisdictions or user types (e.g., U.S. persons, sanctioned countries, retail vs. professional), what are those restrictions and what risks do they create for users and for the project?
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(b) Protocol, Technology & Security Risks — Describe risks to network and contract reliability, correctness, and safety by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
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Bugs and Design Flaws: (If applicable) What bugs, design flaws, or implementation errors could exist in your core protocol code, smart contracts, and any bridges, rollups, or oracles that you depend on, and how could these lead to loss of funds or disruption of the protocol?
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Security Measures & Their Limitations: (If applicable) What security measures have you taken (audits, formal verification, bug bounties), and what types of failures might these measures still fail to detect or prevent?
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(c) Token Economics, Unlocks & Incentive Risks — Describe how the token's economic design and supply schedule could affect holders by answering, at a minimum, questions like:
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Critical Economic Assumptions: (If applicable) Which economic assumptions (e.g., staking yields, fee revenue, liquidity incentives, MEV capture, demand for blockspace) are critical for protocol security, utility, and governance, and what happens if those assumptions fail?
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Governance Control over Monetary Policy & Rewards: (If applicable) To what extent can governance change monetary policy, fee parameters, or reward allocations (e.g., inflation rate, treasury flows, incentive programs), and how could such changes adversely affect tokenholders?
(a) Regulatory, Legal & Tax Risks
Regulatory and legal changes may affect trading-venue access, token usage, and product classification. ENA price discovery occurred through secondary-market CEX and DEX trading once trading was enabled on 2 April 2024, and future or conflicting regulatory requirements could affect the ability to list or maintain ENA on trading venues in key jurisdictions. The January 29, 2026 CFTC filing tied Coinbase Derivatives’ ENA futures launch to self-certification and an on-or-after March 2, 2026 trade date, and Ethena OpCo has published a MiCAR-compliant white paper for the ENA token. In a June 11, 2025 public submission to the SEC Crypto Task Force, Ethena Labs argued that synthetic dollars such as USDe should not be regulated as securities and should instead be treated under a consumer-protection regime. Entity-level regulatory risk includes licensing and registration risk: Ethena Italia S.r.l. holds an Italian VASP registration, and aside from that registration the company and affiliates are not registered in any other jurisdiction. Ethena may request additional AML/CFT-related information from users. Tax treatment may be uncertain for users; under the Terms of Service and USDe terms, users are responsible for taxes associated with use of the services, and Ethena (BVI) Limited is not responsible for determining which laws, including tax laws, apply to user transactions. User access is restricted in certain jurisdictions and for certain user types: acquisition of sUSDe is not offered to EU or EEA residents, users in the United States are not eligible to become Mint Users, the Terms of Service list a broad set of prohibited jurisdictions, and Ethena may use IP geofencing to enforce those restrictions. These restrictions may limit access to products and services and may require users to determine whether their own location, status, or activities make them eligible to use the protocol’s services.
(b) Protocol, Technology & Security Risks
Protocol, technology, and security risks include reliance on off-chain infrastructure, external pricing feeds, off-exchange settlement providers, centralized derivatives venues, and backing-asset custodians such as Copper and Ceffu. These dependencies create risks around exchange failure, oracle integrity, liquidation mechanics, custodial performance, and operational continuity. Custodians, exchanges, payment providers, banking partners, cyberattacks, and blockchain disruptions can still cause losses or service interruptions, and liquidation or exchange-failure scenarios can require active emergency risk management.
Operational controls may also affect availability: gatekeeper checks can disable minting and redeeming USDe if the system detects discrepancies. The minting contract uses atomic execution, signature verification, supported-asset allowlists, custodian allowlists, and per-block mint or redeem caps.
Security measures include a multi-phased audit program across Zellic, Spearbit, Quantstamp, Cantina, Code4rena, Chaos Labs, and other reviewers; recurring custodian attestations; recurring proof-of-reserves updates; and a live Immunefi program with a maximum bounty of $3 million. The Immunefi program requires proof of concept and KYC and covers smart-contract plus web or application issues. These measures reduce but do not eliminate the risks that third-party dependencies, cyberattacks, blockchain disruptions, liquidation events, or exchange-failure scenarios may cause loss, interruption, or emergency operational responses.
(c) Token Economics, Unlocks & Incentive Risks
ENA has a fixed total supply of 15 billion tokens. The supply schedule includes 30% allocated to core contributors, 25% allocated to investors, 15% allocated to the Foundation, and 30% allocated to ecosystem development. Core contributors and investors are subject to a one-year 25% cliff and three years of linear monthly vesting, with no tokens unlocked before the cliff. Community distribution reached approximately 19.25% of supply across Seasons 1 through 5. Separately, the July 2025 and September 2025 StablecoinX financing structures involved discounted locked-ENA sale mechanics; the locked ENA positions carry 48-month transfer restrictions with phased unlock schedules, which may reduce immediate float but can create future unlock overhang and market-structure sensitivity around large treasury-linked holders.
The public business model depends on continued demand for USDe and economic conditions in funding and collateral markets. USDe relies on crypto collateral, short futures hedges, and liquid stables, and returns on staked collateral and futures funding have historically contributed to protocol revenue. During lower-funding environments, Ethena can shift more backing into liquid stables and revisit reserve-fund sizing. The March 6, 2026 governance update stated that monthly protocol revenue fell from $29.8 million in January to $21.2 million in February, and that USDe fees were directed 54.6% to sUSDe rewards, 27.9% to partner rewards, and 17.5% to the Aave liquid leverage program. If assumptions around demand, funding conditions, or collateral-market economics weaken, protocol revenue, the attractiveness of sUSDe rewards, and treasury flexibility could deteriorate.
ENA governance is used to govern protocol parameters, including the composition of USDe backing, the introduction of new backing strategies, the future allocation of protocol revenue, and the membership and remit of the Risk Committee. ENA holders do not hold any contractual or programmatic right to protocol revenue distributions or treasury assets. As a result, future governance decisions regarding revenue allocation, backing composition, backing strategies, treasury flows, and incentive programs may change the economic exposure associated with holding or using ENA and related Ethena products.
This Token Transparency Filing is provided for general informational purposes only. Blockworks reviews completeness only and does not verify or warrant the accuracy of individual answers. Ethena is solely responsible for the content, accuracy, and legality of its disclosures.