Ether.fi Launches Stablecoin Powered by Ethena with $300M Baseline
ether.fi (ETHFI)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
newsbitcoin.cash reports that Ether.fi is launching a dollar-denominated stablecoin backed by $300 million in existing platform balances. The liquid restaking protocol has partnered with Ethena to handle the critical backend operations, including reserve management, minting, redemptions, and compliance. This division of labor allows Ether.fi to focus on the customer-facing layer while Ethena manages the monetary plumbing and regulatory obligations.
The $300 million figure represents stablecoin balances already sitting on the platform, providing a substantial baseline for the new product's launch. This structure reflects a broader trend of specialization in DeFi infrastructure, where protocols outsource complex tasks like reserve management to specialists. Ethena gains immediate scale by plugging its infrastructure into Ether.fi's user base without needing to acquire customers itself.
The partnership aims to reduce operational risk and accelerate time-to-market for the new stablecoin instrument. Regulatory compliance is a key component, with Ethena managing exposure to frameworks like MiCA in the EU and ongoing US legislative activity. The existing user base signals genuine demand, as stablecoin holders demonstrate platform loyalty rather than chasing temporary yield incentives. This model suggests a shift toward horizontal infrastructure partnerships rather than vertical integration in the DeFi sector.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ETHFI, measured when this story was written up on 6 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
ETHFI is currently trading at $0.7410 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 52.1%, indicating a slight majority of buyers over the full day. However, the 1-hour buy ratio has dropped to 34.8%, suggesting that short-term buying pressure is fading compared to the 4-hour period of 55.1%. The volume delta reflects this shift, turning negative in the last hour at -$120,675 after being positive over the 4-hour and 24-hour windows. A buy ratio above 50% means buyers are executing more orders than sellers, while the volume delta measures the net value of those trades. The 24-hour volume delta remains positive at +$192,042, showing that cumulative buying has outweighed selling over the day despite the recent slowdown. Only 6 out of 24 hours saw net buying, indicating that selling pressure dominated the majority of the trading session.
The latest daily buy ratio of 47.6% sits at the 22nd percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.5% - weaker buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ETHFI, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, ETHFI saw a 7-day average buy ratio of 49.8%, with the latest day showing a slight increase of 2.2 percentage points. The 24-hour buy ratio of 52.1% is higher than the weekly average, suggesting a temporary uptick in buyer sentiment relative to the broader trend. Trading volume over the last 24 hours was 0.61x the weekly average, indicating that activity was subdued compared to typical days. The coin experienced a price change of +4.4% over the 8-day period, with a total volume delta of +$1,029,013. This context suggests that while recent buying pressure has weakened intraday, the coin has maintained a positive trend over the week despite lower-than-average volume.