Ethena: Hyperscaling a Synthetic Dollar Protocol

In this episode, Seraphim, Head of Growth at Ethena Labs, joins us to discuss the rapid ascent of the Ethena Protocol. In our conversation, we explore the mechanism design choices used to build the protocol, its unique features such as its delta-neutral synthetic dollar and use of CeFi infrastructure, and discuss the partnerships and collaborations that have fueled Ethena's rapid growth.

—
⏳ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
02:14 Seraphim's Journey
04:20 Why Seraphim Joined Ethena
5:25 What Ethena is
09:00 The Effectiveness of the Ethena Points System
11:29 Ethena's Integrations and Partnerships Across DeFi
14:14 Partnership with MakerDAO
15:35 How USDe is Different from other dollar-denominated assets
18:34 Ethena's Role in the DeFi Lego
20:48 The Protocol's Decentralization Plans
23:50 Challenges the Team Has Faces
25:32 What Aspects of the Protocol are Decentralized
27:04 How far can Ethena scale?
28:46 Growing Decentralized Onchain Perps
30:24 Criticism: Ethena has Grown Too Quickly
32:29 Stress Testing
34:59 What Ethena is Doing to Further Secure Itself and Provide Transparency
36:33 Covering Shorts and Saving the Market
38:17 Comparing Growth and BD at Lido, Euler, and Ethena
41:04 Criticism: Ethena's Custodians can be Censored
43:20 Criticism: DeFi Shouldn't Touch CeFi
44:40 Decentralized Protocol UX
46:38 DeFi Risk Management and Self-Regulation
48:29 DAO Governance is Cool - Seraphim
50:20 Ethena's Future Plans
51:22 Outro

✏️ SHOW NOTES
▸ https://ethena.fi/

—
👋 FOLLOW US
▸ StableLab https://x.com/StableLab
▸ Juan https://x.com/0xCadena
▸ Gustav https://x.com/GArentoft
▸ Seraphim https://x.com/MacroMate8
▸ Ethena Labs https://x.com/ethena_labs

Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter ⁠https://stablelab.substack.com/⁠
Subscribe on YouTube ⁠/ @stablelabxyz⁠
Subscribe on Spotify ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/33O3eLP⁠
Subscribe on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

—
⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The information in this video is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). Juan, Gustav, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.