Portugal-based Ethena, a startup developing an internet savings bond and a new Ethereum-based stablecoin secured by derivatives, has raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by crypto-focused venture capital firm Dragonfly. The round was also backed by BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes and his family office, Maelstrom, as well as a handful of crypto derivatives exchanges, including Deribit, Bybit, OKEx, Gemini, and Huobi.
Ethena is working on two new products that will form a digital currency and savings platform. The fully collateralized stablecoin will have on-chain custody and settlement, and will maintain its peg to the US dollar by utilizing user-provided collateral to hedge the price exposure by betting against Ethereum using perpetual swaps. The second product is a digitally-native savings bond achieved through a bond token built on top of the stablecoin.
Ethena is building the holy grail of stablecoins: a coin that is truly stable, decentralized, and capital-efficient, said Dragonfly general partner Tom Schmidt. Ethena has a breakthrough design that remedies these issues while also benefiting a broad user-base. We’re thrilled to be partnering with them to bring their vision to life.
The startup will use the capital toward the launch of its stablecoin and bond asset in the third quarter.