Key Takeaways
- Standard Chartered launched research coverage on Ethena with a $2 price objective for ENA tokens by late 2028.
- Analysts anticipate Ethena’s USDe stablecoin will expand from its current $4.9 billion supply to approximately $40 billion.
- With ENA trading near $0.26 on Wednesday, the projection represents potential gains of roughly 669%.
- The protocol’s recently activated fee mechanism allocates 95% of net proceeds toward ENA token repurchases.
- Following the announcement, ENA climbed more than 5%, extending its monthly gains beyond 77%.
Major banking institution Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of Ethena, establishing a $2 valuation target for the ENA token to be reached by the close of 2028. The projection from analyst Geoff Kendrick is grounded in Ethena’s expanding presence across stablecoins, asset tokenization, and perpetual futures markets.
With ENA changing hands at $0.26 on Wednesday, the financial institution’s price objective represents approximately 669% appreciation from present levels.
The core thesis from Standard Chartered revolves around USDe, the protocol’s flagship stablecoin. Analysts project USDe’s circulating supply will multiply more than eight times, climbing from today’s $4.9 billion to approximately $40 billion within the forecast timeframe.
Within the stablecoin landscape, Ethena currently holds the fourth position overall, positioned behind industry leaders Tether, Circle, and Sky. Among yield-generating stablecoin providers specifically, it claims the second spot, with only Sky ahead.
Diversification of USDe Yield Generation
According to the bank’s analysis, Ethena is actively diversifying the mechanisms through which USDe produces returns. Profits from cryptocurrency basis trading, which served as USDe’s primary strategy initially, have experienced recent compression.
Alternative revenue streams now encompass real-world asset exposure, decentralized finance lending protocols, institutional credit markets, and basis arbitrage strategies linked to equities or commodities. The protocol has additionally entered tokenized stock markets via Binance’s bStocks platform.
Standard Chartered’s broader market outlook suggests tokenized assets collectively, encompassing both stablecoins and additional real-world asset categories, will balloon to $4 trillion by 2028. This compares to approximately $350 billion in current valuation.
Token Repurchase Framework
A substantial component of the ENA valuation model hinges on Ethena’s recently implemented fee mechanism, which received unanimous approval through governance voting. This framework channels 95% of net revenues generated across Ethena-branded operations into systematic ENA token buybacks.
Standard Chartered’s modeling indicates that if USDe supply hits $40 billion while ENA prices remain unchanged, yearly repurchases would represent approximately 23% of the token’s circulating market capitalization. The bank argues this buyback intensity is unsustainably high, necessitating token price appreciation to maintain program viability over the long haul.
As a precedent, the bank referenced Uniswap’s experience. Following UNI’s fee activation in December 2025, its annualized buyback ratio stabilized within the 3% to 4% range, with the token appreciating roughly threefold since Standard Chartered initiated coverage last June.
Not all market observers share the same optimism. Crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa posted on X that ENA “probably goes back to $1 in crazy bullish conditions,” representing a notably more restrained outlook than the bank’s $2 projection while still suggesting meaningful appreciation potential from current trading levels.
Standard Chartered identified decelerated expansion in yield-bearing stablecoin adoption as the primary downside risk to its forecast. Secondary concerns include potential slowdowns in real-world asset blockchain migration, given Ethena’s increasing reliance on these instruments for yield generation.
ENA appreciated more than 5% immediately after the coverage release, trading around $0.26 based on TradingView market data. The token has delivered gains exceeding 77% throughout the preceding month.
This price action occurred as Bitcoin climbed above $85,000, supported by PCE inflation figures that came in below consensus estimates, diminishing market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate reduction in October.
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