Ethena Labs
Ethena Labs, founded in 2023 by Guy Young in Lisbon, Portugal, develops USDe, a synthetic dollar backed by hedged collateral. Its protocol mints USDe against staked ether and bitcoin collateral hedged via perpetual shorts, distributing yield from staking and funding rates through sUSDe savings. Integrated across DeFi lending, perpetuals and custody, Ethena provides on-chain dollar stability without traditional bank issuance, inspired by earlier research on delta-neutral design. Headquartered in Lisbon with a distributed team across Europe, Ethena emphasizes risk engine rigor, transparency dashboards and audited hedging operations. Backed by leading investors including Dragonfly and Arthur Hayes' Maelstrom, the protocol navigates basis and custody risk carefully. Expect a markets and risk-focused culture that values hedging discipline, clear reporting and building stable, yield-bearing dollars for DeFi with operational prudence.