Ethena buys back investor tokens and activates fee switch
Ethena (ENA)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
bitcoinethereumnews.com reports that the Ethena (ENA) Foundation is addressing selling pressure by buying back locked tokens from major seed investors. The Foundation acquired these tokens through over-the-counter transactions over the last two weeks from investors originally allocated more than 0.25% of ENA’s total supply. Affected investors were split into two groups based on whether they sold tokens after the market cycle peak on October 10.
The Foundation purchased unvested tokens from the group that sold, while the group that did not sell was offered tokens at no discount but none accepted. This move aims to remove the impact of monthly investor unlocks on the ENA market, though team tokens remain subject to their original schedules. Additionally, Ethena Labs licensed its intellectual property to the Foundation, ensuring economic upside accrues to the ecosystem rather than equity holders.
A governance proposal is now live to activate an ENA fee switch with supply-based milestones for buybacks. Once the first milestone is reached, 95% of net revenue from three core business lines will fund ENA buybacks. The Foundation stated this balances growth with value accrual as the protocol targets a $100 billion USDe supply. ENA was trading at $0.186, up 27% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ENA, measured when this story was written up on 28 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio data shows ENA trading at $0.1701 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 52.3%, indicating a slight edge for buyers over the full day. Short-term momentum is stronger, with the 1-hour buy ratio at 54.7% and the 4-hour ratio at 50.3%, suggesting buying pressure is building in the immediate term. Volume deltas reflect this activity, showing a net inflow of +$373,484 in the last hour and +$160,121 over four hours. Over the past 24 hours, the cumulative volume delta stands at +$6,367,162, confirming sustained net buying. The buy ratio represents the proportion of volume driven by buyers versus sellers, while the volume delta measures the net value of that buying pressure. This data indicates that buyers are currently in control, driving the price action with consistent net inflows.
The latest daily buy ratio of 48.8% sits at the 47th percentile of the last 281 days, against a median of 49.0% - ordinary for this coin.
Twenty-four hours later
What ENA did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ENA, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the 7-day average buy ratio was 49.8%, making today’s 24-hour ratio of 52.3% an unusual day with a 2.5 point increase in buyer dominance. Spot volume has surged to 1.74 times the weekly average, highlighting significantly heightened trading activity. The 8-day volume delta total of +$10,039,317 underscores a broader trend of accumulation over the recent period. While the weekly average buy ratio hovered near parity, today’s metrics show a clear shift toward buyer control. This volume spike and ratio increase mark a departure from the ordinary trading patterns seen earlier in the week.