Ethena ENA Fee Switch Passes Vote, Buybacks Tied to USDe Growth Milestones
Ethena (ENA)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
cryptonexa.com reports that the Ethena ENA fee switch proposal has passed its Snapshot vote, establishing a tiered buyback mechanism for ENA tokens. The structure routes a share of gross protocol revenue to the Foundation based on USDe supply thresholds: 5% above $7.5 billion, 10% above $10 billion, and 15% above $15 billion. A 95% buyback applies to the Foundation's collected share, not total gross revenue from day one.
Current USDe supply sits below the $7.5 billion trigger, with estimates ranging from $4 billion to $5.5 billion. Cumulative protocol revenue stands at $1.04 billion, per TrustSwap Blog. The vote closed on 2 September 2026 with 76 votes representing 17,014,325 ENA cast in favour.
A separate investor unlock change collapses approximately 78 million ENA per month through March 2028 into a single tranche on 5 October 2026. This front-loads supply, with Ethena releasing 171.88 million tokens in early August 2026. Arthur Hayes bought 9.05 million ENA before that release, while StablecoinX retains approximately 20% of supply. The fee switch covers USDe savings, white-label stablecoins, and a product called Ethena [X].
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ENA, measured when this story was written up on 5 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio spot data shows ENA trading at $0.2414 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 57.3%, indicating a majority of volume is bid. The 1-hour buy ratio is lower at 43.7%, suggesting short-term selling pressure, while the 4-hour ratio sits at 55.9%. Volume delta turned positive at +$3,796,143 over 24 hours, contrasting with a negative $576,376 in the last hour. This positive delta means buyers are absorbing more sell-side liquidity than sellers are absorbing buy-side liquidity over the day. CVD closed at +$3,731,698, confirming net accumulation over the period. Buying pressure appears to be building over the 4-hour and 24-hour windows despite a dip in the immediate hour.
The latest daily buy ratio of 50.3% sits at the 71st percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.0% - stronger buying than most days.
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 49.0%, making today's 24-hour reading of 57.3% an unusual day with +8.3 points above the average. However, spot volume was only 0.44x the weekly average, indicating lower participation than usual. Net buying occurred on 3 of 7 days, with a total 8-day volume delta of -$6,230,215. This contrasts with today's positive delta, showing a shift from net outflow to net inflow. The price dropped -11.4% over 8 days, yet today's flow suggests a potential reversal in sentiment despite lower volume.