Standard Chartered sees Ethena’s USDe reaching $40B, ENA hitting $2

Standard Chartered anticipates Ethena's USDe stablecoin supply to expand eightfold to $40 billion by the end of 2028, as the protocol broadens its yield sources beyond crypto markets. In a research report shared with Cointelegraph, the bank initiated coverage of Ethena's ENA token with a price target of $2 by the year's end, seven times its current $0.28 valuation.

Standard Chartered also projects USDe to outpace overall stablecoin market growth and outperform Bitcoin and Ether by the same period. The bank's forecasts suggest Bitcoin could reach $300,000 and Ether $18,000 by year-end. Standard Chartered attributes declining returns from USDe's former crypto basis trade to Ethena's pivot towards DeFi, institutional lending, real-world assets, and equity/commodity-linked basis trades.

These new sources generate a blended yield of 5.2%, offering USDe room to scale further. The bank projects the tokenized assets market to grow from $350 billion to $4 trillion by 2028, expanding Ethena's asset pool for yield generation. ENA buybacks are tied to USDe's supply growth, with a 95% net revenue allocation to buybacks once USDe reaches specific supply milestones.

At a $25 billion USDe supply, annual buybacks could total $375 million, assuming a 6% yield and 25% net revenue take rate. If USDe reaches $40 billion and ENA's price remains stable, buybacks could account for 23% of ENA's circulating market cap, a rate the bank deems unsustainable and anticipates ENA's price rising to balance. At $0.27 on Wednesday, ENA has seen a 28% week-over-week surge and a 77% month-over-month increase, with a market cap of $2.65 billion.