Ethena Ties ENA Buybacks to a $7.5 Billion USDe Hurdle Under New Plan

• Proposed ENA buybacks depend on governance approval and USDe supply growth.
• Remaining investor tokens unlock October 5, replacing monthly releases without burns.
• Foundation net revenue would fund buybacks, with 5% reserved for growth.

ENA trades near $0.17 after a daily gain of about 24.6%, alongside a proposal for ENA buybacks. Ethena Foundation’s August 27 update also addresses investor token sales and protocol ownership.

The package combines completed investor buyouts with proposed revenue changes and an accelerated unlock schedule. Approval and USDe supply milestones would govern the new fee switch.

ENA Buybacks Proposal Links Revenue to USDe Supply Growth

After the first USDe supply milestone, 95% of the Foundation’s net revenue would fund ENA buybacks. The remaining 5% would support growth. That allocation concerns revenue paid to the Foundation, not all gross income earned by the protocol.

Covered businesses include USDe savings, white-label stablecoins, and the forthcoming Ethena [X] product. The Snapshot vote follows Risk Committee approval, according to the Foundation.

The ENA buybacks proposal accompanies an agreement in principle between Ethena Labs and the Foundation. That framework would assign or exclusively license all material protocol intellectual property substantially to the Foundation and ecosystem.

Protocol economic benefits would also accrue there, rather than to Labs equity holders. Ethena says these terms formalize existing arrangements that have governed the protocol since the Foundation began operating. The parties expect to publish the agreement in October.

ENA Buybacks Depend on USDe Growth and Revenue Limits

The proposed fee switch would allocate 5% of gross revenue at $7.5 billion USDe supply, according to analyst doxe. Intermediate shares would be 10% at $10 billion, 15% at $15 billion, and 20% at $20 billion. That share would rise to 25% above $25 billion.

From its net receipts, the Foundation would direct 95% toward ENA buybacks and reserve 5% for growth. Covered businesses include USDe savings, white-label stablecoins, and the forthcoming Ethena [X] product. Doxe says the diversion would reduce saver rewards and partner incentives.

Doxe puts supply at $4.05 billion, implying roughly 85% growth before activation. It distinguishes a $52.7 million annualized active-period estimate from an $8.82 million annual average across the full period. Those figures are model outputs, not current purchases.

Investor Buyouts End Monthly Unlocks With October Release

The Foundation completed over-the-counter purchases of locked tokens from selected seed investors during the past two weeks. It targeted original allocations above 0.25% of total supply, distinguishing investors who sold after October 10, 2025. One selling wallet declined the buyout. No nonselling investors accepted offers to sell locked tokens at their original purchase price.

Ethena did not disclose purchased token volumes, costs, or investor identities. Unlike proposed ENA buybacks, these private transactions have already settled.

Remaining original investor tokens will unlock together on October 5, replacing monthly releases. This accelerates vesting rather than burning tokens.

Team vesting stays unchanged. After the release, roughly 12% of the supply would still be unvested across team, ecosystem, and Foundation allocations. StablecoinX, holder of roughly 20% of supply, keeps its separate lockup schedule.