Ethena Labs launches stablecoin backed by BlackRock’s tokenized fund shares

Ethena Labs announced the launch of its USDtb stablecoin, which will leverage BlackRock’s tokenized fund, USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), for 90% of its backing.

According to the Dec. 16 announcement, the partnership was facilitated by Securitize.

USDtb will operate independently from Ethena’s existing algorithmic stablecoin, USDe, providing users and exchange partners with a stablecoin featuring a differentiated risk profile. Ethena’s Risk Committee has also approved USDtb as a potential backing asset for USDe, enhancing its ability to navigate volatile market conditions.

USDtb design provides flexibility and risk mitigation across Ethena’s ecosystem and beyond, as Spark’s $1 billion Tokenization Grand Prix touts directing incentives towards the stablecoin. The initiative will boost tokenization efforts.

Additionally, USDtb is inherently multichain, built as LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT). Users can transfer USDtb across various blockchains, such as Ethereum, Base, Solana, and Arbitrum.

USDtb’s liquidity will be supported by prominent market makers, including Jump, Cumberland, Wintermute, Amber, GSR, and SCB Limited.

Notably, Ethena Labs’s move represents a significant step forward for stablecoins, which combine the stability of traditional finance with the efficiency and scalability of blockchain. BlackRock’s BUIDL currently has a market cap of nearly $562 million.

Furthermore, it solidifies Ethena’s position in the stablecoin market following the success of its algorithmic stablecoin USDe, which grew 93% over the past 30 days to hit a $5.6 billion market cap — making it the third-largest stablecoin in the market.

The growth could be closely tied to its value accrual mechanism, which is giving USDe stakers a 27% annual percentage yield (APY) as of press time.

TradFi meets DeFi

In addition to Ethena Labs, other DeFi protocols are also considering tapping into BUIDL.

Money market platform Aave proposed a new GHO Stability Module (GSM) on Aug. 26 based on BlackRock’s tokenized fund. Aave created the GSM to help maintain the peg of its ecosystem’s stablecoin, GHO.

Meanwhile, BlackRock plans to expand its BUIDL offering for traditional finance giants. The asset manager is considering using the shares of its tokenized fund as collateral for derivatives trading.

Such a move would connect the trillion-dollar derivatives market to the nascent tokenized money funds sector, which is roughly $3 billion in size as of Dec. 16.