The Bull Case for Ethena
Standard Chartered is feeling the vibes for Ethena (ENA), releasing a fresh report projecting the protocol’s USDe stablecoin could balloon to $40 billion in supply by the end of 2028. That’s a massive 8x jump from its current spot. If you’re holding ENA, the bank’s analysts are also calling for a $2 price target by that same deadline, which would be about a 7x increase from the $0.28 level noted in their research.
Why the growth?
Real talk: Ethena is moving beyond just standard crypto-native basis trades. With traditional crypto yields dipping, they’re pivoting into institutional lending, DeFi, and real-world assets—think equities and commodities. This diversification currently locks in a blended yield of 5.2%, creating more runway for the protocol to scale. The bank expects the broader tokenized asset market to explode from $350 billion today to $4 trillion by 2028, giving Ethena plenty of room to cook.
The Buyback Mechanism
The real plot thickens with the ENA fee switch. The protocol has a mechanism to funnel 95% of its net revenue into ENA buybacks once USDe hits specific milestones. Standard Chartered estimates that if supply hits that $40 billion target, the volume of buybacks could represent a massive 23% of the token’s market cap—a level they say is "unsustainable," meaning they expect the ENA price to pump significantly to balance things out.
Why it matters
Standard Chartered thinks ENA will outpace the big dogs, BTC and ETH, over the next few years. They’ve even got their own targets for the majors, seeing BTC at $300,000 and ETH at $18,000 by 2028. While these numbers look like major Ws for the space, remember that bank research is just a forecast, not a crystal ball. Always DYOR—nothing here is financial advice and crypto markets are famously volatile. Don't let the hype drain your bags.
