Ethena

Thank you to our sponsor, Multichain Advisors!What rights do token holders have? Is everyone getting rugged? In this episode of Uneasy Money, Ethena founder Guy Young joins hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan to interrogate the lack of clarity around token expectations and rights as Aave DAO goes against Aave Labs and Circle acquires the Axelar team. Do centralized exchanges hold the solution? Plus, does MOVE's Rushi Manche deserve a second chance? And how can you stay safe from the fake Zoom scam? Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Guest: Guy Young, CEO & Founder of Ethena Labs Links: Unchained: AAVE Holders Question if DAO Quietly Redirected Revenue Away From Treasury SEC Ends Four-Year Probe Into Aave ‘Poison Pill’ Proposal Calls for Aave DAO to Take Over Aave Labs Jump Crypto’s Firedancer Goes Live on Solana Mainnet How to Trade Prediction Markets Without an Opinion on the Event MetaMask Adds Native Bitcoin Support Timestamps: 🚀 00:00 Introduction  👀 01:39 Who owns Aave? 🤔 5:42 Is the DAO and Foundation model faulty? ⚡️ 11:29 Why tokens need clarity ⁉️ 16:23 Is the SEC to blame for the lack of token clarity? 💡 20:03 How lack of regulatory clarity arounds tokens boosts scams ⚔️ 22:00 The Solana client diversity debate 📍 25:48 How Circle's Axelar acquisition highlights the lack of token rights 💥30:20 How centralized exchanges can help secure rights for token holders 🧠 33:25 Luca explains why some tokens should not confer rights ⁉️ 39:48 Should Rushi Manche get a second chance? 🫨  47:01 Taylor unpacks messy details of Movement Labs’ MOVE token deals 💫 50:28 How the debate between Tarun Chitra and Dan Robinson provides a base for unraveling 10/10 ⚠️ 53:10 How Guy believes the crypto industry can prevent another 10/10 🚨 1:00:20 Why new fake Zoom scams are particularly dangerous  📽 1:04:04 Kain reveals how his domain registrar was socially engineered  🧏‍♀️ 1:08:20 What to do if you are a victim of the fake Zoom scam 👀 1:09:41 Is adding leverage to Polymarket “pure insanity?” ⚡️ 1:11:47 What to know about MetaMask's Bitcoin support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Hyperliquid’s USDH ticker set off the most dramatic “RFP” in recent memory. The crew breaks down why Native Markets ran away with validator support, whether the process was theater or strategy, and how the Bake-off became a marketing masterstroke—and potential leverage on Circle. We dig into Polymarket odds, the last‑minute Paxos bribery allegation (denied), and what this means for future “native” stables on Solana, app chains, and beyond. Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. This week, we’re joined by Guy founder of Ethena as a special guest, as a single ticker (USDH) sparked a weeklong spectacle: Hyperliquid’s “Bake-off” to award the USDH stablecoin brand. Native Markets surged ahead as validators signaled support, Paxos rallied late with partners and incentives, and Ethena ultimately withdrew. Was this always a vibes‑based beauty contest, or a deliberate move to pressure Circle and re‑route bridge yield? We parse the incentives, the governance, and the market microstructure — and peek at what happens if every big chain/app tries the “native stablecoin” playbook. Show highlights🔹 Hyperliquid RFP, Explained — Validators signaled early; stakers could migrate; the USDH “ticker” confers no explicit fee rights, yet bidders offered huge economics. 🔹 Why Native Won — “Vibes-based beauty contest”: homegrown team fit the HL ethos; speed, alignment, and community trust trumped external credentials. 🔹 Paxos Allegation — Late claim of validator bribery surfaced; Paxos denied; no receipts provided; underscores governance fragility to extra‑protocol incentives. 🔹 The Real Prize — Bridge control & yield capture (+ tail‑risk management) mattered more than a brand: even a “just a ticker” beachhead can evolve to real economics. 🔹 Masterstroke Marketing — The public Bake-off dragged every major issuer onstage, boosting HL mindshare and potential leverage in any USDC negotiation. 🔹 Open vs. Closed — If you want a native team, say so; calling it an “RFP” for service providers while preferring insiders created dissonance and drama. 🔹 Odds vs. Votes — Polymarket odds rapidly converged on Native despite splashy rival bids—perception and validator reality diverged from Twitter takes. 🔹 Issuer Margins Compress — Public bids commoditize stablecoin issuance; expect 5–15 bps “asset‑manager” style economics unless you’re Tether‑scale. 🔹 App/Chain Rent Wars — Who captures the float? Apps, wallets, and chains will increasingly demand economics for distribution; UX and liquidity fragmentation loom. 🔹 Liquidity Gotchas — Forcing a nonstandard stable can impair quotes vs. USDT pairs elsewhere; exchanges risk killing their golden goose to save a few bps. Hosts⁠ ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️Guy Young, Founder & CEO of Ethena Labs Disclosures⁠⁠ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:27 Hyperliquid USDH Stablecoin Proposal: Setup & Stakes 03:25 USDH “Bake-off”: Native Markets vs. Paxos, Ethena, Frax 06:21 Early Signals, Rumors, and Bribery Allegations 13:33 Validator Decisions, Community Reactions & Market Fallout 28:53 Polymarket Odds & Onchain Sentiment 29:47 Liquidity, Bridge Yield, & Market Microstructure Explained 31:46 Hyperliquid’s Strategic Playbook 34:28 Governance Design 37:45 Stablecoin Ecosystem 39:25 Exchange Liquidity Challenges, Maker Behavior & Fee Dynamics 55:28 Final Takeaways & Lessons for Chains, Exchanges & Issuers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

This week Guy Young joins the show to discuss the next chapter for Ethena. We deep dive into Ethena's business model, how DATs could enable DeFi's breakout moment, how Ethena will scale in the future, advice for founders & more. Enjoy! -- Follow Guy: https://x.com/gdog97_ Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod -- Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts -- Is your treasury losing value to inflation? Learn how to make digital assets like ETH and SOL productive with uncorrelated, protocol-driven staking rewards. A new report from Liquid Collective and EigenCloud outlines a practical guide for CFOs to integrate institutional-grade staking and restaking. Read The Productive Treasury Report: https://liquidcollective.io/corporate-treasury-staking/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (03:29 )The Ethena Business Model (07:04) Valuations & VC Unlocks (12:44) The Ethena DAT (StablecoinX) (15:11) Are DATs Sustainable? (18:36) DeFi’s Breakout Moment (24:12) Partnering With Pendle & Aave (31:49) Ads (Eigen Layer) (32:48) Advice For Founders (37:34) How Does Ethena Scale (44:18) What Is iUSDe? (47:47) Hyperliquid Is Launching A Stablecoin (USDH) (53:39) Corporate Chains -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Subscribe to the new Bits + Bips channels! 📺 YouTube  🎧 Podcast → Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Fountain🐦 X / Twitter  In this episode of Unchained, Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, and Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly, unpack the emerging wave of Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) and why altcoins may be the next to follow Bitcoin and Ethereum onto public markets. They explain why StablecoinX, a new infrastructure company within the Ethena ecosystem, is merging with a SPAC to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker “USDE,” anchoring its treasury with Ethena’s ENA token.  With $360 million in backing from investors like Dragonfly, Ribbit, Galaxy, and Polychain, the deal is testing whether public equity markets are ready for altcoin-native treasuries. Guy and Rob also discuss why some crypto wrapper stocks are trading at massive premiums, how capital gets misallocated in crypto, and whether ETH staking rewards represent real yield or just inflation.  They debate whether this trend is creating lasting infrastructure or just new packaging for old narratives. Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Mantle Re Guests: Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro 🧠 3:29 Why Ethena worked with a team launching an ENA  corporate treasury company 💰 10:38 Ways to structure public crypto treasury vehicles 🕵️‍♂️ 16:53 Whether treasury vehicles are just a flashy wrapper for vaporware 📉 22:28 Why Guy says there’s way more VC capital than good ideas in crypto right now 📈 31:20 How some DATs are trading at eye-popping premiums 🤔 37:15 Why Dragonfly backed TLGY but skipped other Bitcoin, ETH, or SOL plays 🏗️ 40:24 How the structure of these public vehicles shapes their value 🔄 47:39 What makes convertible debt different from SPACs or PIPEs 🧾 49:20 How investors should think about these new crypto treasury companies 📊 55:43 How Wall Street is being pitched on Ethena and USDE 💥 59:16 Whether this trend is legit or just another bubble waiting to pop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Rob Hadick

General Partner

Dragonfly

This week, the Hivemind team is joined by Guy Young, founder of Ethena, to discuss the launch of their $360M ENA vehicle, the structural challenges in altcoin market flows, the evolving use cases for stablecoins, and why Athena’s yield-based model positions it as a more scalable solution than USDC. They also unpack the impact of the Genius Act on U.S. stablecoin regulation, the long-term overvaluation of L1s like ETH and SOL, and how the market structure is shifting toward revenue-generating apps like Hyperliquid. Enjoy! -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross and David Canellis. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire  -- Follow Guy: https://x.com/gdog97_  Follow Ceteris: https://x.com/ceterispar1bus  Follow Jose: https://x.com/ZeMariaMacedo  Follow Yan: https://x.com/YanLiberman  Follow Duncan: https://x.com/FloodCapital  Follow Empire: https://x.com/theempirepod  Subscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4jYEkBx  Subscribe on Apple: https://bit.ly/3ECSmJ3  Subscribe on Spotify: https://bit.ly/4hzy9lH  -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/  -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:27) Ethena & its New Treasury Vehicle (8:26) Competing with Other Stables (18:38) The Genius Act & Its Implications (35:18) ETH & Treasury Vehicles (40:20) The Future of Altcoins & L1s (42:24) Ethena & the Futures Market (44:16) L1 Valuations (52:17) Pump.Fun ICO (1:10:10) Final Thoughts -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, the Hivemind team, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

This week on Unchained: two big stories, one episode. First, Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase’s L2 Base, joins to unpack the chaos behind the viral “Coined It” memecoin moment, a tweet-turned-token that hit $17M in an hour, crashed, then rebounded, igniting a firestorm on Crypto Twitter. Was it a media experiment or a botched launch? Was there insider trading? And why does Jesse think coins are the future of creator monetization? Then, we dive into Converge, the recently announced chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to bridge TradFi and DeFi. Carlos Domingo and Guy Young explain what makes Converge technically novel, why they’re building on Arbitrum and Celestia, and how it could reshape the onchain landscape for institutions. Also in this episode: Whether Jesse regrets greenlighting the Base post The future of creator coins and tokenized assets How Converge plans to prevent hacks and improve UX And why Converge isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie” Thank you to our sponsors! Bitkey: Use code UNCHAINED for 20% off FalconX Mantle Part 1 Jesse Pollak, Head of Base and Coinbase Wallet On Wednesday, Coinbase’s layer 2 network Base posted a tweet that read: “Base is for everyone,” followed by a tweet: “Coined it.” That second tweet linked to a page where the post had already been turned into a coin. Within an hour, the coin hit a $17 million market cap, then dropped to under $2 million, then went back up to over $13 million. Crypto Twitter exploded. Some called it a rug. Others accused insiders of sniping the launch. Coinbase later issued a statement saying that Zora auto-tokenizes content, but Jesse Pollak, head of Base, tweeted that he personally greenlit the post. So what really happened? In this episode, Jesse sits down with Laura to discuss: Whether this was a memecoin launch or a media experiment Why he thinks the crypto community overreacted Whether insider trading occurred And why he believes coins, not NFTs, are the future of creator monetization Plus, he explains why he’s okay being the “punching bag.” Part 2 A month ago, Converge was announced as the new chain backed by Ethena and Securitize, aiming to become a home for tokenized assets and institutional capital. On Thursday, the teams behind it released the full technical specs. From validator-triggered circuit breakers to 100ms block times and support for yield-generating private credit, Converge is pitching itself as the chain for both TradFi and DeFi. In this episode, Securitize’s Carlos Domingo and Ethena’s Guy Young join Unchained to explain what’s actually novel in this architecture, why they chose Arbitrum and Celestia, and what it will take for institutions to get comfortable onchain. Plus:  What Converge means for Ethereum and other L2s Whether gas tokens like USDe and USDtb solve real UX problems How they plan to prevent bridge-based hacks And why this isn’t just about migrating existing assets, but “expanding the pie” Guest Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Ethena: After an Incredible 2024 for USDe, Ethena Plans to Supercharge Growth Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe? How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models Unchained:  Tokenized T-Bills Grow Despite Trump Tariffs Causing U.S. Treasuries Sell-off Tokenized Treasuries Grow 20X Faster Than Stablecoins as Crypto Market Languishes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Pollak

Creator of Base

BaseCoinbase

Carlos Domingo

CEO

Securitize

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest in crypto. In this episode, we’re joined by Guy Young, CEO and founder of Ethena Labs, to break down the hard truths behind DeFi’s most recent chaos. We dive into the USD0++ depeg and its ripple effects across the ecosystem, exploring what went wrong and the critical lessons for the future of stable assets. Plus, we discuss Ethena’s meteoric rise, Guy’s vision for synthetic dollars, and how innovative yield strategies are reshaping DeFi. Stay tuned as we debate, analyze, and uncover the hidden forces shaping crypto today. Show highlights 🔹 USD0++ Depeg Drama: A deep dive into what caused the USD0++ depeg, the mechanics behind the chaos, and the broader implications for DeFi. 🔹 Lessons on Risk Transparency: Why sudden rule changes eroded trust and how protocols can improve communication to avoid similar fallout. 🔹 Ethena’s Rise and Vision: Guy Young shares the story of Ethena’s explosive growth, its innovative synthetic dollar model, and its role in DeFi’s evolution. 🔹 The Yield Dilemma: Exploring how Ethena’s yield model works, its appeal, and the risks it carries for users and the ecosystem. 🔹 DeFi’s Distribution Problem: Why centralized exchanges remain the key to scaling synthetic assets and stablecoins like Ethena’s USD. 🔹 Transparency vs. Overconfidence: Drawing lessons from Luna’s downfall and how Ethena’s approach to clear communication sets a new standard. 🔹 Athena’s 2025 Roadmap: From DeFi integrations to TradFi adoption, what’s next for Ethena as it scales synthetic dollars globally. 🔹 Reflections on Building in DeFi: Guy Young opens up about the challenges, surprises, and rewards of leading one of DeFi’s fastest-growing projects. 🔹 2025 Predictions: The crew debates who might become this year’s “main character” in crypto and what that could mean for the market. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly  Guest ⭐️Guy Young, CEO & Founder of Ethena Labs Disclosures Timestamps  00:00 Intro 01:30 Changes to Usual Money’s Protocol 06:05 Reactions & Analysis 09:12 Lessons from USD0  18:35 Transparency vs. Miscommunication 22:42 Ethena: A DeFi Success Story 32:12 Demand for Stablecoins & Yield 36:40 Custody & Market Structure Post-FTX 43:58 Handling Negative Yields and Market Corrections 48:22 Ethena's Roadmap and Future Plans 55:53 Reflections on Building Ethena Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

USDe shattered expectations in 2024, emerging as the largest decentralized stablecoin in circulation and a game changer for DeFi. Ethena’s founder, Guy Young, joins the show to reveal how the protocol surpassed long-established giants, generating billions in fees and setting new benchmarks for yield generation. Guy also breaks down the mechanics behind Ethena’s innovative strategies, including “Aavethena,” a yield-boosting approach that’s changing how users interact with synthetic dollars. Plus, he addresses the risks: what happens when leverage goes too far, and how Ethena mitigates volatility at its core. Will Ethena bridge DeFi and TradFi, leveraging the disconnect between crypto and traditional interest rates to tap into a $100 trillion fixed-income market? Show highlights: Why Guy was surprised to see the rapid rise of USDe Why Guy is spending 80% of his time on bringing Ethena to TradFi The launch of Ethena’s UStb How regulation comes into play and the challenges in different jurisdictions Whether USDe could launch in the U.S. with a friendlier administration  Why Ethena hasn’t needed to utilize the reserve fund Why Guy believes Ethena has been able, at times, to surpass OG protocols like Ethereum and Uniswap in fees How USDe is being used across the board in DeFi applications  What the “Aavethena” strategy is and how it generates yield for users Whether USDe has brought considerable risks of liquidations How allowing Pendle’s PT tokens on Aave could supercharge growth How Ethena counters the centralization risks around exchanges Why Guy thinks that Ethena’s cross-chain strategy has been “pretty poor” How ENA has performed well despite airdrops not doing well in 2024 Why Guy believes this bull cycle is different  Why he’s expecting USDe to reach at least $15 billion in 2025 Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot Robinhood & Arbitrum Guest: Guy Young, Founder of Ethena Labs Previous appearances on Unchained:  Ethena’s USDe Grew to $2 Billion in 7 Weeks. Is It Safe? How Ethena’s USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models Links Unchained: Ethena’s USDe Becomes Third-Largest Stablecoin UStB announcement How BlackRock, the World's Largest Asset Manager, Took Crypto Mainstream Blockworks Research thread on how USDe is used Aavethena tweet by Guy Young “androlloyd’s” tweet on the level of exposure USDe has Unchained: Circuit Breakers: Is ERC-7265 the Solution dApps Were Waiting For? Seraphim’s tweet on the Ethena endgame Timestmaps: 00:00 Intro 01:52 The rapid rise of USDe and what surprised Guy about its ascent 05:11 Ethena’s growth plans for 2025 07:36 Ethena’s role in launching UStb 11:52 Regulatory challenges across different regions 16:24 Could a U.S. launch for USDe happen with a friendlier administration? 20:56 Why Ethena’s reserve fund hasn’t been tapped yet 22:22 How Ethena surpassed OG protocols, including Ethereum, Uniswap, etc., in fees 25:14 USDe’s growing role in DeFi applications 27:17 The “Aavethena” strategy and how it generates yield 30:38 Risks of liquidations tied to USDe 33:48 Supercharging growth with Pendle’s PT tokens on Aave 36:15 How Ethena mitigates centralization risks with exchanges 40:39 Guy’s thoughts on Ethena’s cross-chain strategy struggles 43:19 Why ENA has performed well despite airdrop fatigue 48:42 Why this bull cycle feels different 52:44 Guy’s target for 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. This week, Ethena was in the spotlight after the airdrop of ENA, its new governance token. Ethena’s flagship product, the “synthetic dollar” USDe has amassed a $2 billion market cap in less than two months. Meanwhile, ENA’s market capitalization sits around $1.4 billion, with a fully diluted valuation of $15.5 billion.  In this episode, Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs, discusses the risks associated with Ethena, including custodial risks and counterparty risks to exchanges. Young also talks about the use cases of Ethena's governance token, and discusses the potential for Ethena to be integrated with DeFi and CeFi. Show highlights: An introduction to what Ethena is and how USDe works Why the team doesn't want to refer to USDe as a stablecoin, and prefers to use the term "synthetic dollar" What the risks of USDe are, including custody, counterparties, and smart contracts Why Guy is "pleased" with how the ENA airdrop went through How ENA will be used and what its role will be in the governance of Ethena Why Ethena is now onboarding Bitcoin as collateral Why Guy thinks that there's been an "exaggeration" regarding the situation with Maker and Aave Guy's response to the critics who say that Ethena is essentially Terra/Luna Whether USDe would only work in a bull market How the Ethena insurance fund works and what it aims to accomplish What's next for Ethena after onboarding Bitcoin, with Solana potentially being the next asset Thank you to our sponsors! Polkadot iTrustCapital Guest Guy Young, founder of Ethena Labs.  Previous appearance on Unchained: How Ethena's USDe Challenges Traditional Stablecoin Models Links Ethena:  Unchained: What Is Ethena’s USDe Synethic Dollar? A Beginner’s Guide Decrypt: Ethena Just Launched to a $1.2 Billion Market Cap: Here’s What You Need to Know  Dust on Crust by Arthur Hayes Airdrop: Unchained: Airdrops From Wormhole and Ethena Labs Set to Inject $2.4 Billion Into Crypto Market This Week  Cointelegraph: Ethena will become highest revenue-generating crypto project — Delphi Labs CEO ENA Airdrop and Season 2: Sats Campaign  Learn more: What Is a Crypto Airdrop? A Beginner’s Guide MakerDAO/Aave controversy:  The Block: MakerDAO proposes allocating $600 million worth of DAI into USDe and sUSDe The Defiant: DeFi Projects Clash After MakerDAO Adds Ethena’s USDe As Collateral,  Comparisons to Terra’s UST:  The Defiant: Ethena Stablecoin’s 27% Yield is Triggering Terra-Induced PTSD Andre Cronje’s thoughts on USDe Cointelegraph: Ethena Labs founder clarifies USDe stability amid high yield worries Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

In today's episode we are joined by Arthur Hayes and Guy Young dive deep into the world of stablecoins and synthetic dollars. They discuss the counterparty risks associated with Ethena, a new synthetic dollar product, and how it aims to provide a decentralized alternative to traditional stablecoins like Tether and USDC. The conversation also touches on the challenges faced by algorithmic stablecoins, the potential impact of institutional investors entering the crypto space, and the exciting opportunities in the growing interest rate market within the crypto ecosystem. To close out Arthur shares where he thinks we are in the cycle. Thanks for tuning in! - - Follow Arthur: https://twitter.com/CryptoHayes Follow Guy: https://twitter.com/leptokurtic_ Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santiago: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Arbitrum is a game-changer for daily Ethereum's users and developers, offering top applications and lower fees. As the leading scaling solution with 600+ apps, explore Arbitrum’s Portal to find your perfect fit. Interact with the home of DeFi, a flourishing NFT and creator ecosystem, and a rapidly growing Web3 gaming hub – Arbitrum has it all.  Get started at: portal.arbitrum.io  - - Harpie is the most advanced on-chain security solution for monitoring and protecting your crypto wallet from theft in real time. Harpie detects, blocks, and recovers compromised assets from malicious transactions before they execute, and is the only security tool to also protect users from off-chain signature attacks like the recent Ledger Connect Kit exploit. Secure your wallet for free at harpie.io. - - Join us at DAS (Digital Asset Summit) in London this March! DAS is the #1 institutional conference in crypto, hosted by Blockworks. Use the link below to learn more, and use EMPIRE10 to get 10% off your ticket! Sign up now because the price goes up every month. See you there! Learn more + get your ticket here: https://blockworks.co/event/digital-asset-summit-2024-london/home - - Timestamps: (0:00) Arthur's Stablecoin Musings (9:28) History of Tokenized Hedge Funds (11:47) Ethena Overview (16:34) Arbitrum Ad (17:20) Harpie Ad (18:33) Risks of Ethena (24:25) USDe Yield over Time (29:28) Defending a Cascade (35:05) Rebranding USDe (45:35) Minting & Redeeming Process (48:14) Stablecoin Endgame (1:00:39) Where are we in the cycle? (1:09:09) Top Narratives this Cycle - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Arthur Hayes

Co-Founder & CIO

MaelstromBitMEX

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Guy Young is the founder and CEO of Ethena Labs, which is the entity behind Ethena, the synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum. Ethena also introduces a universally available dollar-linked savings option known as the 'Internet Bond'. Ethena introduces an innovative stablecoin model. Throughout our discussion, we thoroughly explore the mechanics and intricacies of Ethena, gaining a deeper understanding of its operation and the risks involved. 0:00 Intro 1:24 Guy Young's Background and Ethena Origin Story 5:33 How is USDe Different? 11:56 Off Exchange Provider Risks 20:23 ETH Short Positions 31:08 Insurance Fund 38:35 USDe Scalability 42:44 New Collateral 45:35 Staked ETH Depeg 48:48 Stablecoin / USDe Use Cases 57:33 Ethena Airdrop 1:00:00 Biggest Risk 1:02:42 Success for Ethena 1:05:40 Revenue Our sponsors https://defisaver.com/?utm_source=Defiant+Youtube&utm_medium=Podcast+Shoutout+february&utm_campaign=Defiant+podcast+shoutout+ad https://stellar.org/soroban?utm_source=defiant&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=defiant_podcast https://matcha.xyz/swap-tokens?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=defiant-24Q1 ✨ Check out our new website ✨ https://thedefiant.io/ 🚀 Sign up to our newsletter 🚀 https://thedefiant.io/go-premium#pricing?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=signup 🤑 Find DeFi investment opportunities & educational primers here https://thedefiant.io/promo?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=alpha ✊ Follow The Defiant Twitter: https://twitter.com/defiantnews Discord: https://discord.com/invite/3SdRdEs5ag Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedefiant.io/ Telegram: https://t.me/DefiantNews 📬 Contact our Newsroom editorial@thedefiant.io 🤝 Sponsorships & Partnerships sponsors@thedefiant.io #TheDefiant​ #DeFi​ #Decentralized​ #Finance​ #Blockchain #Web3

Guy Young

CEO and Founder

EthenaEthena Labs

Roxanne Petraeus had never worked in compliance or HR. But a single TechCrunch article about her customer acquisition startup approach landed Netflix as a customer - and kicked off a word of mouth SaaS engine that signed 250 companies including Zendesk, Figma, and Notion. If you are looking for customer acquisition startup strategies beyond paid ads and cold outreach, this episode delivers. Roxanne shares how she partnered with a VC fund's HR leader to distribute a free beta to 50 portfolio companies, why SaaS go-to-market through press-driven growth can be more powerful than outbound sales, and how Ethena maintained 95%+ renewal rates during tech layoffs. Roxanne Petraeus is the co-founder and CEO of Ethena, a compliance training platform serving 100,000 employees across 250 customers. Ethena has raised over $50 million. 🔑 Key Lessons Use press as a customer acquisition startup weapon, not a vanity play - one TechCrunch article reached Netflix's CEO, who shared it with his legal team and became a customer. Turn VC networks into distribution channels for early customer acquisition startup traction - one email to a VC fund's HR leader generated the first 10 beta customers. Discover buyer pain points by going from general complaints to specific costs - HR buyers spent 10 hours per week on manual CSV tracking and faced regulatory risk. SaaS go-to-market through word of mouth SaaS scales when employees switch jobs - satisfied users recommended Ethena at their next employer, creating an organic referral loop. Build on legally required demand for recession-resistant press-driven growth - compliance training is mandated by law, maintaining 95%+ renewal rates through layoffs. Chapters Introduction Favorite quote and leadership philosophy What Ethena does and the compliance training problem Roxanne's background - army officer to McKinsey Where the idea for Ethena came from Meeting co-founder Ann through serendipity Building the MVP in three weeks Customer discovery - structured interviews with HR leaders Launching the beta and the free-to-paid transition Landing the first paying customer in four months Customer acquisition startup fundraising lessons Learning to sell compliance software without domain expertise How press landed Netflix and other big-name customers Why word of mouth became the biggest growth channel Challenges women founders face raising venture capital Navigating tech layoffs and revenue contraction Lightning round Resources Full show notes: https://saasclub.io/344 Join 5,000+ SaaS founders: https://saasclub.io/email

Roxanne Petraeus

Co-Founder and CEO

Ethena

My guest today is Roxanne Petraeus, co-founder and CEO of Ethena, a modern compliance platform for businesses. Roxanne’s background is pretty incredible, before starting Ethena she was a Rhodes Scholar, served in the US Army, and worked at McKinsey. In our conversation, we cover the lessons Roxanne ported over from her military career to building a business, how she’s trying to make compliance training not suck, and the woeful state of funding female founders in VC today and what can be done about it. Far from a boring conversation about compliance, this was an incredible discussion with one of the best founders I’ve met recently. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Roxanne Petraeus.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.    See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.  ----- This episode is brought to you by DigitalOcean. DigitalOcean provides founders and creators with the platform they need to get their website and apps off the ground, all with low-bandwidth pricing to save them money over other cloud providers.   If you are looking for the best place to build web apps or API backends on robust infrastructure, DigitalOcean is the place for you. They provide a fully managed solution that handles your infrastructure, operating systems, databases, and other dependencies on their new App Platform product. App Platform makes it easy to build, deploy, and scale apps. Get started for free at do.co/founders. -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:29] - [First question] - What Ethena does [00:06:31] - Lessons from her military career [00:09:13] - Good and bad elements of leadership training from the military  [00:11:35] - The problem of what sucks in compliance training [00:14:33] - The enablement of bad behavior among people with power [00:17:56] - The original idea for Ethena and bringing it to market [00:21:15] - Determining who is the right person to serve first  [00:24:03] - Lessons for building good software  [00:26:21] - How they have adapted to working in and around regulation [00:29:31] - Getting other companies to buy into the product [00:34:45] - Creating effective content and measuring that effectiveness [00:38:13] - Darker sides of growing the business and raising money [00:39:57] -  How ‘the Motherhood Penalty’ Plays Out for Startup Founders [00:43:12] - Fixing the problems with bias in venture capital investing [00:46:57] - What is the outlook and long-term vision for the business [00:50:38] - What has her most excited for the future [00:51:53] - Most interesting about the Rhodes Scholar program [00:54:02] - Kindest thing anyone has done for her

Roxanne Petraeus

Co-Founder and CEO

Ethena