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From its peak in early October, the market capitalization of one of the largest stablecoins, USDe by issuer Ethena, has plummeted by more than half, by $8.5 billion. This occurred over several weeks following the record crypto market crash on October 10th, when traders faced record losses on liquidated trading positions, which in nominal futures positions alone approached $20 billion in a single day.
The crash served as a trigger for a decline in investor confidence in the synthetic backing used by USDe during a period of stress, as noted by analysts at 10x Research. The drop in USDe's market cap is the largest decline among stablecoins in 2025. While other major stablecoins also saw a decrease in this metric, it was localized and constituted an insignificant portion. All other major stable tokens in the top five have seen growth during this time.
USDe is the fourth-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, but unlike many, it is not backed by the US dollar—its peg to the dollar is ensured not by assets but by a "delta-neutral" position, where, for example, BTC is simultaneously bought and sold (long and short).
This business model has made the protocol one of the most profitable in the sector, with nearly $400 million in earnings since the beginning of the year, second only to USDC issuer Circle and USDT issuer Tether.
From July 2025 to the beginning of October, USDe's market capitalization nearly tripled, reaching a peak of $14.8 billion. After the cryptocurrency crash on October 10th, when traders lost a record amount of money on liquidated trading positions—nearly $20 billion—the supply of USDe began to decline. By December 24th, the figure had dropped to $6.3 billion, according to Defillama.
ENA—the native token of the Ethena project—also recorded negative dynamics. The asset's price fell by 60% since the beginning of October to $0.2 by December 24th. Since the beginning of the year, the asset has lost nearly 80%.
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