Ethena's ENA jumps 10% on a buyback plan that needs $7.5B first

ENA, the governance token of synthetic dollar protocol Ethena, jumped 10.7% in 24 hours and 27% over the past week after the Ethena Foundation proposed sending most of its protocol revenue into token buybacks, Cointelegraph reported. The token traded above $0.17 as of Friday morning.

The foundation opened a vote on a fee-switch proposal that would direct 95% of the net revenue it collects from Ethena's core business lines toward buying ENA on the open market. That switch doesn't turn on immediately: it activates once the circulating supply of Ethena's stablecoin, USDe, reaches a first milestone of $7.5 billion. Tokenholders have until Sept. 2 to vote, and every vote cast so far, 65 of them representing about 14.4 million ENA in voting power, has come out in favor, according to Snapshot.

The foundation paired the buyback proposal with two changes to token supply. It bought back locked ENA from some major seed investors who had sold portions of their holdings over the past nine months, taking that supply out of circulation. Separately, it agreed with lead investors to release the remaining unvested allocations on Oct. 5 in one move, replacing the existing monthly unlock schedule. That's an acceleration, not a cancellation: the same tokens are still coming, on a single date instead of a drip. Team tokens keep their original vesting terms.

• Fee switch: 95% of net protocol revenue directed to ENA buybacks, once approved
• Trigger: activates when USDe's circulating supply reaches $7.5B (current: ~$4B)
• Vote deadline: Sept. 2; all votes cast so far are in favor
• Buyout: foundation repurchased locked ENA from some seed investors who had sold
• Unlock change: remaining investor allocations release in one move on Oct. 5, replacing monthly drips

Double-digit moves on governance news aren't unusual for tokens with active buyback or fee-switch mechanics. Hyperliquid's HYPE posted a similar jump this month on a single remark about US market access, and ENA's reaction fits the same pattern: traders pricing in a mechanism that reduces circulating supply before it starts running.

The proposal matters beyond ENA's price because of what it's funded by. USDe, Ethena's synthetic dollar, carries roughly $4 billion in market capitalization and ranks sixth among stablecoins, per DefiLlama, a segment Intokened has tracked through a stablecoin digest covering rising profits and licensing wins elsewhere this year. A 95% revenue share is a meaningful claim on the cash that stablecoin can generate once it clears the $7.5 billion trigger.

None of this is guaranteed yet. The fee switch is still a proposal, not a live mechanism, and it won't start buying until USDe's supply clears a bar it hasn't hit. What's already real is the signal: Ethena's foundation would rather spend its revenue defending ENA's price than sit on it.

Nothing here should be taken as financial advice — just information to consider.