Standard Chartered Forecasts Ethena’s USDe at $40 Billion and ENA at $2 by 2028

Standard Chartered expects Ethena’s USDe supply to grow eightfold to $40 billion by the end of 2028. In a Wednesday research report, the bank started coverage of the ENA token with a $2 target, about seven times the $0.28 price cited. It sees USDe growing slightly faster than the overall stablecoin market, and ENA outperforming Bitcoin and Ether, which it puts at $300,000 and $18,000.

How Ethena Is Expanding USDe Yield

Returns from the classic basis trade, which holds spot crypto while shorting perpetual futures, have been falling. Ethena has moved into DeFi and institutional lending, real-world assets and basis trades tied to equities and commodities, which now give a blended 5.2% yield. The bank expects tokenized assets to grow from about $350 billion to $4 trillion by 2028, widening the pool Ethena can tap.

ENA Buybacks and Fee Switch Explained

A fee switch approved by Ethena governance in early September sends 95% of net revenue to ENA buybacks once USDe hits set supply milestones. At $25 billion in supply, Ethena estimates $375 million in yearly buybacks, assuming a 6% gross yield and a 25% net revenue take rate.

Why the Bank Expects a Higher Price

At $40 billion in USDe and an unchanged ENA price, buybacks would equal about 23% of circulating market cap each year, which the bank calls unsustainable. It expects the price to rise until the rate falls, as with Uniswap’s UNI, which settled near 3% to 4%.