Ethena Brings USDe Payments to Avalanche With Up to 6% Yield, 10% Cashback

Ethena Labs is moving into consumer payments with Ethena Pay, a self-custodial app that combines USDe balances with bank transfers, crypto transfers, and card spending, founder Guy Young told The Block.

The beta is being rolled out in stages across 48 countries on iOS and Android. Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Kenya, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the markets included in the initial rollout.

The U.S. and the EU are excluded from the initial release. Ethena expects to add those markets, as well as Canada, South Korea, and Taiwan, during the beta, subject to local regulatory requirements. The company also plans to introduce additional countries, currencies, and features each week during the testing period.

Young said Ethena Pay differs from neobanking products built around third-party stablecoins such as USDC and USDT because the app directly incorporates Ethena’s own USDe. He described the product as an effort to bring fiat and crypto services into a single experience for everyday financial use.

Users can receive fiat using International Bank Account Number (IBAN) details or send crypto to their wallets, with both routes resulting in a USDe balance. Funds can also be withdrawn to an external bank account and settled in the recipient’s local currency, according to Ethena.

The app supports fee-free transfers between users through usernames or tags. Ethena said bank transfers in U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds carry no fee, while transfers in other currencies are charged between 0.05% and 0.1%. 

Iron, the stablecoin infrastructure company that MoonPay acquired in 2025, provides the app’s backend infrastructure.

ENA Holdings and Referrals Determine Reward Limits

Ethena Pay divides its rewards program into Standard, Pro, and VIP tiers, with higher levels available either by locking ENA tokens or meeting referral thresholds.

Standard membership is free and provides a 5% annual percentage yield (APY) on balances of up to $5,000. Pro status requires $2,000 worth of locked ENA or 10 referrals and raises the yield to 6% on balances capped at $15,000. Users qualify for VIP by locking $10,000 in ENA or referring 50 people, with the 6% rate applying to balances of up to $50,000.

According to Young, returns from USDe fund the savings yield. The company has not disclosed the funding source for the app’s other rewards.

Card spending carries a separate rewards structure. The Ethena Pay Card pays cashback in Avalanche’s AVAX token at rates of 4% for Standard members, 4.5% for Pro, and 5% for VIP users. At selected brands such as Spotify, Uber, and Claude, the maximum cashback rises to 5% for Pro and 10% for VIP, Ethena said.

Avalanche Deployment Comes as Ethena Navigates Regulatory Limits

Ethena Pay runs exclusively on Avalanche. Young said Ethena chose Avalanche because both companies are focused on developing financial products for businesses and infrastructure designed to operate largely behind the scenes for end users. He also cited Avalanche’s earlier work with Rain cards.

The launch also raises questions about the service’s regulatory status. When The Block asked what licenses or approvals Ethena Pay currently holds and where they are valid, Young did not provide specifics, saying the information would appear in public documentation this week. 

Ethena has previously faced regulatory scrutiny in Europe. Germany’s BaFin ordered Ethena GmbH to wind up its USDe business in June 2025 after the company withdrew its application for authorization under the European Union’s crypto rules. 

The expansion into payments also comes as USDe has about $4 billion in circulating supply, compared with a peak of approximately $15 billion in September 2025. Rather than using the fiat-reserve structure associated with stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, USDe relies on backing assets and derivatives positions intended to hedge price movements in the backing assets and maintain its dollar peg.