New crypto startup, Ethena Labs, came out of stealth mode today announcing a $6.5M seed round led by Dragonfly and Arthur Hayes, founder of Bitmex.
Gemini exchange also participated in the round.
Ethena Labs has a bold vision which is to build the first ever stable coin that is not dependant on the banking system.
What does it mean:
Ethena is building a stable coin that aims to be truly decentralized and not reliant on the banking system.
- The coin will maintain its peg to the US dollar by hedging against ETH using perpetual swaps
- Ethena will not keep any capital in the banking system and will be fully on chain
Why it matters:
After the historic collapse of LUNA, many thought leaders in crypto have been outspoken about the need to truly solve for on chain stable coins without exposure to the banking system
- Silicon Valley Bank collapse, as well as Silvergate, exposed many of crypto’s vulnerabilities to the traditional banking system
- The demand for stable coins is enormous, with $130B USD deployed across numerous coins
- Currently, most stable coins are tethered to the legacy banking system, which stands in stark contrast to the decentralized and permission less thesis of crypto evangelists
