Ethena Labs shifts USDe stablecoin to AAA-rated collateral from crypto basis trades

Ethena Labs is shifting the collateral backing its USDe synthetic dollar from crypto basis trades to AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). In June 2026, Ethena allocated $200 million to the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Fund, with a cap of $310 million. By mid-2026, real-world assets comprised 11% of USDe's backing, while perpetual futures dropped to 11% by April 2026. Founder Guy Young aims to reduce dependency on crypto volatility using these low-risk, institutional-grade instruments.

USDe collateral shift to CLOs

• ▪Ethena Labs is shifting the collateral backing its USDe synthetic dollar from crypto-native basis trades to AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations.
• ▪Ethena Labs expanded its tokenized AAA collateralized loan obligation holdings beyond its initial Janus Henderson allocation through STAC, delivered via Securitize.
• ▪Ethena Labs allocated $200 million to the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Fund in June 2026 through a partnership with Centrifuge on the Solana blockchain.

Institutional risk reduction strategy

• ▪Ethena Labs partnered with Anchorage Digital and Coinbase Asset Management to support its transition toward institutional-grade collateral strategies.
• ▪Ethena Labs founder Guy Young stated that the shift to AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations aims to introduce low-duration, lower-risk instruments to reduce USDe's dependency on crypto market volatility.

AAA CLO market characteristics

• ▪The quarterly mean spread for United States AAA collateralized loan obligations is approximately 61 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
• ▪United States AAA-rated collateralized loan obligation tranches have historically never experienced a principal loss.
• ▪The United States AAA collateralized loan obligation market is valued at approximately $500 billion to $600 billion and offers floating-rate yields tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.

USDe supply backing composition

• ▪Ethena Labs' Risk Committee approved the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Fund position and established an investment cap of approximately $310 million.
• ▪As of September 2026, the circulating supply of Ethena Labs' USDe synthetic dollar remained stable within the range of $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion.

Real-world asset allocation growth

• ▪Real-world assets accounted for approximately 11% of the total backing for Ethena Labs' USDe synthetic dollar by mid-2026.
• ▪The 11% real-world asset allocation in mid-2026 represents a significant shift for Ethena Labs' USDe, which previously relied almost entirely on perpetual futures positions.

Perpetual futures position decline

• ▪The yields from AAA collateralized loan obligation spreads of 61 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate are lower than the yields generated by crypto basis trades during bullish market periods.
• ▪Perpetual futures positions declined to approximately 11% of the backing for Ethena Labs' USDe synthetic dollar by April 2026.