Ethena’s meteoric rise shows no signs of slowing, with its total value locked surging past $10 billion and several bullish catalysts setting the stage for ENA to challenge the $1 mark.
Summary
- Ethena’s TVL has surged past $10.6B, with protocol revenue and USD inflows rising sharply.
- Catalysts like USDe growth, token buybacks, and whale accumulation could push ENA beyond $1.
- Ecosystem expansions and potential exchange listings add further upside potential.
Ethena (ENA) token is trading at $0.7911 at press time, up 0.6% in the past 24 hours. The token has rallied 36% over the past week and 141% in the last 30 days.
As per DefiLlama data, Ethena’s TVL crossed $1 billion on Aug. 10 and has since surged to $10.94 billion. Protocol revenue has also seen a sharp increase, hitting $21.62 million so far in August compared to $10.14 million in July. Weekly USD inflows reached $1.33 billion in the seven days ending Aug. 10.
Ethena price catalysts for August
August is shaping up to be a pivotal month for Ethena, with multiple on-chain and market drivers aligning to potentially push ENA higher. These include:
1. USDe stablecoin adoption
The first significant driver is the rapidly growing adoption of Ethena USDe (USDE), the platform’s synthetic stablecoin. USDE is now the third-largest stablecoin with a market valuation of over $10.2 billion, as per Token Terminal data. It’s 11% APY and the capital-efficient design has attracted institutional and retail demand.
Fees, revenue, and supply are up 100% or more in the past month. Potential listing on well-known exchanges like Binance or OKX might allow ENA holders to receive fee distributions, which would increase its utility and drive demand higher.
2. Ethena token buyback program
The second driver is Ethena’s $260 million buyback fund, which sets aside about $5 million per day to repurchase ENA tokens from the market.
This program has already boosted recent price increases by aggressively reducing the circulating supply. If the buybacks continue at the same pace through August, the scarcity effect could keep prices elevated.
3. Ethena whale accumulation
A third factor is increasing whale and institutional participation. Institutional inflows into ENA-related derivatives have hit all-time highs, and addresses with 100,000–1 million ENA currently control nearly 50% of the supply, as per Nansen data.
This accumulation suggests strong confidence from key players, which could further support Ethena’s rally if sentiment remains bullish.
4. Ecosystem growth and integrations
The growth of Ethena’s ecosystem provides additional momentum. Recent integrations, including with Aave (AAVE) for Liquid Leverage and Coinbase International for USDe hedging, expand the protocol’s appeal.
The planned launch of the Converge blockchain, where ENA will serve as the native token, could become another demand driver if development updates are released this month.
Ethena technical analysis
Despite the most recent decline, ENA is still showing a strong uptrend on the daily chart. The price is trading above its 50-day moving average, and the relative strength index has cooled slightly but still in overbought levels, suggesting room for another upward push.
With resistance at $0.84, the Bollinger Bands show that the price is consolidating near the upper band. A move toward the psychological $1 mark might be triggered by a breakout above this level.
If bulls fail to reclaim $0.84, support lies at $0.72, followed by a stronger level near $0.68. A break below $0.68 would signal a deeper correction, but momentum indicators and volume trends currently lean bullish, keeping the $1 target within reach.
