Ethena’s governance token ENA surged by 43% this week, breaking past the $0.50 level and securing the spot as the second-best performing top 100 token, trailing only Curve’s CRV, according to CoinGecko.
The rally is being fueled by market speculation that Ethena’s long-anticipated fee switch—a mechanism designed to distribute protocol revenue to staked ENA (sENA) holders—may soon be activated.
What’s Driving the Momentum?
The fee switch proposal, first introduced by Wintermute and approved by the Ethena Foundation in November 2024, allows protocol revenue—mostly from mint fees on USDe, Ethena’s synthetic dollar—to be shared with sENA holders once specific criteria are met.
According to Kairos Research, as of this weekend, most of those conditions have now been satisfied, including:
- USDe supply above $6 billion
- Cumulative protocol revenue exceeding $250 million
- USDe listed on four of the top five centralized exchanges by derivatives volume
- Reserve fund exceeding 1% of total USDe supply
The only remaining condition is the required yield spread between staked USDe (sUSDe) and comparable DeFi benchmarks like Aave’s USDC yields. Kairos Research noted that capital flows suggest this final parameter may be met soon.
“ENA’s fee switch is unique—it’s pre-approved but conditional,” Kairos posted on X. “Only the APY spread remains, and market dynamics are signaling it’s close.”
Broader Crypto Market Boost
In addition to the upcoming fee switch, ENA is also riding the wave of a broader market rally. Ethena’s USDe stablecoin has attracted over $750 million in new deposits in recent weeks, according to CoinDesk, adding to the bullish sentiment around the ecosystem.
Summary
- ENA price surged 43% this week, topping $0.50
- Fee switch mechanism is close to activation, with only one metric outstanding
- sENA holders may soon receive a share of protocol revenue
- USDe adoption continues to rise, with strong capital inflows
- Market expectations remain bullish as Ethena nears a key milestone
