“Ethena’s ENA Rallies 43% — Here’s What’s Driving the Momentum”

Ethena’s native governance token, ENA, has posted a 43% gain over the past week, briefly crossing the $0.50 mark and becoming the second-best performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko. The rally is being driven by speculation that the protocol may soon activate a long-awaited fee-sharing mechanism for holders of staked ENA (sENA).

What’s Fueling the Rally?

The price surge comes amid mounting anticipation that Ethena is on the verge of activating its fee switch — a system that would distribute protocol-generated revenue to sENA holders. The proposal was introduced by Wintermute and approved by the Ethena Foundation in November 2024, but it is only triggered once a set of predefined benchmarks are met.

According to Kairos Research, most of those requirements have already been satisfied. The protocol’s core revenue stream comes from minting fees on USDe, Ethena’s synthetic dollar, which now boasts over $6 billion in circulating supply.

Fee Switch: Requirements and Status

To unlock revenue sharing for sENA holders, Ethena must meet the following conditions:

USDe supply above $6 billion ✅
Cumulative protocol revenue exceeding $250 million ✅
Listings of USDe on at least 4 of the 5 largest centralized exchanges by derivatives volume ✅
Reserve fund surpassing 1% of total USDe supply ✅
APY spread between staked USDe (sUSDe) and rival benchmarks (like Aave’s USDC) still pending ⚠️

Kairos Research noted that the only remaining condition — widening the APY spread — could be met soon, as inflows into sUSDe are outpacing those into competing assets like Maker’s sUSDS.

“The framework for revenue sharing is already in place. Once the final yield threshold is crossed, sENA holders will begin receiving a portion of the protocol’s revenue,” Kairos explained in a post on X.

Broader Market Momentum

Beyond the fee switch speculation, general bullish sentiment in the crypto market is also boosting ENA. Ethena’s USDe has attracted more than $750 million in new inflows in recent weeks, as reported by CoinDesk earlier today, reflecting strong investor appetite for synthetic dollar products and DeFi-native yields.

Key Highlights

ENA surged 43% this week, outperforming most major tokens
Fee switch activation could begin protocol revenue sharing with sENA holders
All technical requirements have been met except for one
$750M+ in new inflows into Ethena’s USDe signal growing demand
ENA’s rally aligns with broader DeFi market strength

As Ethena approaches a major protocol milestone, investor focus is shifting toward the long-term value accrual potential of ENA. Should the final condition for the fee switch be met, sENA holders may soon start participating directly in the protocol’s financial upside — marking a major step forward in the evolution of tokenized governance.