USDe developer Ethena raises new funding round at $300 million valuation
Summary
Young told The Block that all mentioned parties are now officially confirmed as investors in the seed extension round.Update (Feb. 16, 7:52am ET): Due to incorrect information received from, and by request by, Ethena Labs, the article has been updated to remove Brevan Howard Digital, PayPal Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity via Avon Ventures, Binance, Deribit, Gemini and Kraken as investors in this strategic funding round.Ethena Labs, the developer of the Ethereum ETH +1.48% -based stablecoin USDe, has raised $14 million in a strategic funding round.Dragonfly and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes family office, Maelstrom, co-led the round, Ethena Labs said Thursday.Ethena had commitments of over $50 million for the round but capped it at $14 million as it did not need more cash at the moment, founder and CEO Guy Young told The Block. The round began in late December and closed this week, Young said, adding that it was structured as a simple agreement for future equity with token warrants.The round brought Ethenas valuation to $300 million, he added.Ethena also publicly launched its USDe stablecoin following a stealth launch last December that quickly saw over $224 million in total value locked. USDe could soon surpass $1 billion in TVL and "will soon be a credible challenger to Tether," according to Hayes, who also backed Ethenas $6 million seed round last year via Maelstrom. "To create USDe, Ethena allows users to deposit U.S. dollars, ETH or liquid staking tokens as collateral.Ethenas second product is a dollar-denominated savings instrument called an "Internet bond." With fresh capital in hand, the firm plans to grow its current team of 12 people by hiring quant engineers and business development executives in Asia, Young said.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data.