Ethena has launched Ethena Pay in beta for 400 early users, bringing USDe payments, Avalanche settlement and annual reward rates of up to 6% to a self-custodial mobile app. According to The Block, the beta service debuted across seven countries: Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Australia. The app is available on iOS and Android, combining a self-custodial crypto wallet with bank transfers, fiat on-ramps and a Visa payment card. As per Ava Labs, digital-dollar balances in the app are held in USDe, with Avalanche handling transfers, payments and settlement behind the interface, giving Ethena a consumer distribution channel where USDe can be held, sent and spent without users selecting a blockchain network.
The latest version of Ethena Pay has expanded its settlement capabilities, with Avalanche chosen as the exclusive settlement network supporting dollar, pound, and euro onramps along with local currencies and IBANs linked to self-custodial stablecoin accounts. This enhancement allows the app to serve users across multiple jurisdictions and currencies, positioning it as a comprehensive digital dollar platform. The beta is available across 50+ countries with iOS access, with Android access, availability in the United States and European Union, and multi-currency accounts expected to follow. Users can make "instant" global transfers through a username or tag without paying transfer fees, while USD, EUR, and GBP bank transfers are free, with other bank transfers carrying fees of between 0.05% and 0.1%.
Ethena Pay divides its balance rewards across Standard, Pro, and VIP tiers. Standard users can receive a total annual rate of up to 5% on eligible balances capped at $5,000. Pro users can receive up to 6% on a maximum eligible balance of $15,000, while the VIP tier applies the same 6% rate to as much as $50,000. However, to access the advertised 6% yield, users must maintain a minimum USDe deposit of $2,000 or complete 10 referrals. The Daily Boost mechanism calculates rewards from a user's time-weighted average daily balance, with boosts normally paid in USDe within 24 hours after the accrual day ends. Membership tiers are unlocked through different requirements: Standard is free, Pro can be unlocked by locking $2,000 worth of ENA tokens or referring 10 users, while VIP requires users to lock $10,000 in ENA or refer 50 users.
Qualifying purchases earn cashback in AVAX rather than dollars or USDe, with Standard users receiving 4% on the first $2,500 spent each month, Pro members earning 4.5% on their first $8,000, and VIP users receiving 5% on their first $20,000. Cashback is calculated after a card transaction settles and is paid in AVAX at the exchange rate when it is credited. Transactions below $1 do not qualify, nor do categories including crypto and securities purchases, gambling, gift cards, peer-to-peer transfers and account funding. Pro and VIP users can also receive additional cashback of up to 5% and 10% respectively at selected brands including Uber, Spotify and Claude. Cashback rates step down for spending above each band, with Pro rates falling to 2% between $8,000 and $10,000, then to 1% from $10,000 to $12,000, and 0.5% above $12,000. The fact that cashback is paid in AVAX—a volatile asset rather than dollars—has drawn criticism that the app partially reintroduces the currency risk it was originally designed to eliminate.
The launch has generated significant market interest, with The Block reporting that the ENA token closed up 8.56% at $0.1623 on the day of the announcement, reaching an intraday high of $0.1670 with a weekly gain of 9.52%. The token's market capitalization stood at $1.59 billion with 24-hour trading volume of $527.78 million. Behind this price movement is a governance proposal filed by the Ethena Foundation on August 27, which calls for allocating 100% of protocol net revenue to programmatic ENA buybacks, explicitly including future revenue from Ethena Pay. In effect, protocol fees generated from card payments would flow entirely into ENA purchases. Trading volume supports the rally, with current session volume of 158.55 million ENA being roughly 4-5 times the summer baseline of 30-40 million tokens, indicating strong investor interest in the platform's potential.
