The boldest institutional call on splitting up stablecoin infrastructure came from Standard Chartered. In a report dated 30 September 2026, Global Head Geoff Kendrick kicked off coverage on the Ethena token with targets of 42c by the end of 2026, $1.10 in 2027 and $2.00 by the end of 2028.
Attributed by BTCC and Ethena to its channels, the thesis rests on USDe accelerating to $40 billion and 95% of net revenues being poured into ENA buys.
Initially, the preview turns out to be valuable not just for price levels but for how a G-SIB characterizes Ethena token. Instead of a governance token unrelated to cash flows, Standard Chartered interprets ENA as a means of monetizing yield-oriented stablecoins across crypto and conventional economies.
At the heart of the Valuation Model is USDe, Ethena’s tokenised dollar. The USDe supply circulating at the end of September 2026 was over $13B, ranking as the 3rd stablecoin after Tether’s USDT and USDC, according to DeFiLlama and CoinMarketCap.
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Diversified Yield Strategy
At Standard Chartered, $40 B will be reached by 2028 because of more hedging options for institutional investors and distribution. Unlike fiat-backed stablecoins, the digital currency earns a return from delta-neutral, perpetual futures, funding rate, and tokenized basis trades.
Standard Chartered proposed diversification from typical crypto funding rates into tokenized equities, USDtb short-term Treasury investments, and money-market institutional credit.
Source: ethena.fi
This prevents reliance on highly volatile funding that affected the prices of many stablecoins in the second quarter of 2026. The buyback plan was key to the linkage revealed in August 2026. They used 95% of net revenues after hedge costs and the sinking fund to buy back open-market ENAs.
They foresee USSDe cash flow rising as it scales, unlike governance tokens they issued in the past that did not have cash flow offtake. Ethena Labs confirmed these proprietary mechanics on X on 30 September 2026, which coincided with the Standard Chartered report.
Also Read: Ethena Price Eyes Breakout as New Developments Boost ENA Outlook
Why it Matters for Stablecoin Infrastructure
Yield-bearing stablecoins have been stigmatized since Terra, yet USDe’s overcollateralized hedging and attestation deposits powered through storms; fresh USDe issuance initiated by Standard Chartered, which also has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Arbitrum, also packages Ethena with other infrastructure assets. It reflects a forward-looking approach to tokenomics.
The space is converging toward buyback schema discussed at MakerDAO’s Sky and Uniswap, replacing inflation incentives.
By anchoring ENA to 95% of net revenue, Ethena answers requests for sustainable value care, from venture funds and hedge funds to DAO treasuries behind DeFi implementations, to assess risks of racking their capital on ancillary projects.
This call mirrors three macro themes and Standard Chartered expects tokenization of $2tn equipment by end-2028, bankless dollar denominated assets expected by institutional investors, and convergence of perpetual futures. Ethena sources issuances from Binance, Bybit, and Deribit while providing a composable dollar used in DeFi lending, restaking via Ether.Fi and Symbiotic and new fintech rails.
Source: Pinterest
Also Read: Ethena USDe Price Briefly Falls to $0.92 on Binance
Regulatory Outlook and Catalysts
The $2.00 thesis relies on execution. USDe would need deep perpetual books, effective custody and counterparty management across numerous exchanges. An inverted funding curve, as in August 2025, might cause compressed revenue streams and buybacks.
Regulatory expression of synthetic dollar liability in the US, the EU (under MiCA), and UK stablecoin regimes will shape distribution and product development. Next steps include USDe supply approaching $20 billion, quarterly buyback disclosures and adoption of tokenized Treasury collateral.
Source: Wikipedia
Key metrics include USDe user account expansion, funding spreads sourced on CryptoQuant and Glassnode and ENA flows sourced on Arkham Intelligence. If Ethena manages to raise to $40 billion and maintain margins, ENA would move from a high-beta governance resource to a cash-flow targeted infrastructure resource, a repricing model that threatens to revalue stablecoin protocols.
Also Read: Ethena Price Analysis: Can Breakout Momentum Push ENA Toward $1?
