Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
USDe has set a new industry record by hitting $10 billion in total value locked (TVL) in just 500 days, making it the fastest stablecoin in history to reach that milestone.
The protocol behind USDe, Ethena Labs, posted:
“everyone wants to know what we’d say if we didn’t reach $10b supply
i guess we’ll never know”
USDe’s rapid climb has coincided with the passing of the GENIUS Act, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, which represents the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins in the United States.
Enacted on July 18, 2025, it imposes strict new rules on issuers, including 1:1 reserve requirements in low-risk assets, robust federal oversight for large issuers, and strong consumer protections such as priority repayment rights in the event of failure.
The most impactful provision of the ACT, however, and the catalyst behind the rise of USDe, is the prohibition on regulated issuers paying yields on stablecoins, as CoinFund president Chris Perkins told CryptoSlate:
“Under GENIUS, stablecoins do not pay interest to end users, and without interest, stablecoins are depreciating assets. So, holders will seek yield. And that’s where DeFi comes in. If the Treasury Department’s projections are correct and trillions of stablecoins come into the system, expect DeFi summer on steroids as users seek to maximize yield by engaging across a variety of yield strategies. Users will be drawn to yield-bearing vaults, and they will commission AI agents to optimize their returns.”
This ban on yield payments is causing a profound realignment in the stablecoin market. Capital that once flowed to traditional, yield-paying stablecoins such as USDC has been seeking alternatives, and much of it has landed with USDe. As prominent crypto trader, Cas Abbé, pointed out:
“The reason behind this growth is GENIUS Act approval, which prohibit issuers to provide yields on stablecoins.
Due to this, big money has now shifted to $USDe which provides lucrative yield.”
Ethena Labs has been able to attract this demand thanks to continued yield offerings via decentralized finance (DeFi) mechanisms, which fall outside the restrictions placed on federally supervised issuers. The result is a massive inflow of institutional and retail capital, propelling USDe past many of its competitors. The ENA governance token has also experienced a price appreciation of over 100% in the past month.
USDe’s $10 billion milestone is a testament to how dramatically the GENIUS Act has reshaped the stablecoin landscape. While the law tightens controls and imposes new safeguards, it has also created opportunities for nimble, DeFi-native protocols to capture yield-hungry capital, proving that regulatory shifts don’t have to stifle innovation.
