Standard Chartered Sees Ethena at $2, USDe at $40B by 2028

• Standard Chartered’s Ethena price forecast puts ENA at $2 by the end of 2028, with USDe market cap projected to reach $40 billion
• Yield-bearing stablecoins account for about 5% of the market, a share the bank expects to grow
• Ethena’s buyback framework would direct 95% of net revenue received by its foundation toward ENA purchases once USDe supply reaches $7.5 billion

Standard Chartered has put a $2 target on Ethena’s ENA token for the end of 2028, tying its Ethena price forecast to growing demand for dollars that earn yield. The bank’s new coverage comes as the protocol changes how it makes money and how that money could reach token holders. Its forecast calls for a sharp expansion in USDe.

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A $40 Billion Forecast for USDe

In its September 30 report, shared by Ethena, Standard Chartered projects USDe outstanding could reach $40 billion by the end of 2028. Ethena described that forecast as an eightfold growth over the next two years.

For a dollar-pegged asset, that would also mean approximately $40 billion in market capitalization, provided USDe maintains its peg. It is a forecast for Ethena’s synthetic dollar, separate from the bank’s ENA price prediction.

The report estimates that yield-bearing stablecoins account for around 5% of the stablecoin market. Standard Chartered expects that share to increase as users seek returns alongside the ability to hold and transfer digital dollars.

Ethena already faces competition. Sky’s sUSDS, for example, pays a variable savings rate funded by the protocol’s aggregate surplus. Users deposit USDS to access it.

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Where the Growth Could Reach ENA Holders

The connection between USDe adoption and ENA’s price runs through buybacks. An August proposal outlined a framework directing 95% of net revenue paid to the Ethena Foundation toward ENA purchases once USDe reaches a supply milestone. Subsequent reporting identifies that threshold as $7.5 billion. It should be noted that allocation concerns net revenue received by the foundation, rather than 95% of all returns generated by USDe’s backing assets.

Those returns have also become more varied. Ethena’s documentation lists crypto and non-crypto basis trades, DeFi lending, institutional lending, and tokenized real-world assets among its revenue sources. This gives the protocol more ways to earn when crypto funding rates weaken, although each strategy brings its own exposures.

USDe holders access staking rewards through sUSDe. ENA is the governance token, so its holders do not automatically receive those rewards. The $40 billion projection gives investors a supply target to watch. But if that supports a $2 ENA price will also depend on earnings and the resulting purchases. A larger USDe balance alone cannot show how much money will be available to buy back tokens.

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