Standard Chartered starts Ethena coverage, sees ENA rising as USDe expands

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Ethena outlook by Standard Chartered

Highlights

Standard Chartered initiates Ethena coverage, forecasting ENA to reach $2 by end-2028 and projecting USDe supply to expand over eightfold.
Ethena's broadened yield sources—including real-world assets, DeFi, and tokenized equities via Binance's bStocks—target improved scalability as the sector moves toward $4 trillion in tokenized assets by 2028.
The new fee switch channels 95% of net revenue to ENA buybacks, potentially driving buyback rates to 23% of circulating value if USDe hits $40 billion by 2028.

Coverage launch and growth forecast

As first reported by The Block, Standard Chartered starts coverage of Ethena and says the ENA token reaches $2 by the end of 2028 as the company broadens its yield-generating asset base and expands token buybacks.

ENA changes hands at $0.26 on Wednesday, implying about 669% upside to the bank's target. Standard Chartered also expects Ethena's USDe outstanding supply to grow more than eightfold over the same period. The bank says Ethena is currently the fourth-largest stablecoin issuer, behind Tether, Circle, and Sky, and the second-largest issuer of yield-bearing stablecoins behind Sky.

In a note to clients, Standard Chartered says Ethena is widening the yield engine behind USDe as returns from the crypto basis trade have fallen. The bank points to real-world assets, DeFi and institutional lending, liquid stablecoins, and equity- and commodity-linked basis trades as newer sources of yield. It also says Ethena has expanded that strategy into tokenized equities through Binance's bStocks, using those assets as spot backing for USDe and Binance equity perpetuals to hedge exposure.

Buyback model and sector implications

The bank says the broader asset base improves scalability and fits with its wider forecast that tokenized assets, including stablecoins and other real-world assets, rise to $4 trillion by the end of 2028 from about $350 billion today. Standard Chartered adds that the second part of its ENA view depends on how the token responds as USDe grows.

Ethena's fee switch, which passes with 100% of votes, directs 95% of net revenue generated across Ethena-branded businesses to programmatic ENA buybacks. Standard Chartered calculates that if USDe reaches $40 billion by the end of 2028 and ENA stays at its current price, annualized buybacks would equal about 23% of the token's circulating value.

The bank argues that such a level is unlikely to remain sustainable and says ENA would need to appreciate until the buyback rate falls to a lower range. It compares that dynamic with Uniswap, where the annualized buyback rate has settled at roughly 3% to 4% since its fee switch was activated in December 2025. Standard Chartered says slower-than-expected growth in yield-bearing stablecoins is the main risk to its forecast, while weaker growth in blockchain-based real-world assets would add pressure because Ethena increasingly relies on those assets for yield generation.

Our earlier report on global corporate debt market growth explained that outstanding rated corporate debt climbed to $26.1 trillion by mid-2026, with investment-grade issuance driving most of the expansion despite volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. It also noted that capital demand is being fueled by AI and digital infrastructure investment, pointing to a market where stronger borrowers are leading issuance trends.

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