Ethena says it has paid out over $800M in USDe ecosystem rewards

The milestone comes as the protocol ends ENA token incentives and leans on a revenue-funded buyback model instead Ethena says it has distributed more than $800 million in rewards across its USDe ecosystem since launch. That is a lot of money handed back to users of a dollar-pegged token that only arrived in early 2024. The timing is interesting. The milestone lands just as Ethena has stopped paying users in its own ENA token and started betting that real revenue, not emissions, can keep the lights on. Where the money went The bulk of those rewards flowed to users who staked USDe into sUSDe, the protocol’s staked version of the token. Rewards also went to people who took part in various other activities across the ecosystem. Research compiled on the protocol puts the figure at more than $750 million since USDe launched. It adds that total rewards reportedly approached or surpassed $800 million, which lines up with Ethena’s own claim. That reward machine has now been partly switched off. As of September 30, 2026, ENA token incentives for USDe stakers were fully discontinued. The wind-down was not sudden. Those incentives had already been cut by approximately 85% since 2024 before bei...