The mechanism of USDe – WHAT YOU MUST KNOW IF YOU HOLD PONZI ENA SIMILAR ASSETS.
(This content is quite long, so I divide it into 3 parts, consecutively.)
PART 1: The functioning mechanism of USDe in Ethena
$ENA creates the stablecoin USDe, aiming to maintain a price of 1 USD without using real money or banks. They employ a delta-neutral hedging strategy: depositing ETH, then opening a short position to balance volatility.
Profits come from the funding rate + hedging activities, not from traditional collateral assets.
=> THIS POINT IS EXACTLY PONZI
USDe heavily relies on the funding rate to provide returns. If the funding rate reverses or drops sharply, the entire model easily becomes unbalanced — this is why many people consider this mechanism to "smell like Ponzi".
