Etena Labs USD starts at 20% APR on Baybit as a margin bond
Etena Labs Artificial Dollar will start accepting USDe tokens as collateral on the cryptocurrency exchange Baybit.
The new integration USDe will start offering traders an annual percentage rate (APR) of up to 20% as a margin deposit.
For traders on Baybit, this introduces greater efficiency and flexibility in their trading strategies, said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Baybit. Zhou told Cointelegraph:
“Using USDe, traders can benefit from a unique combination of stable and potential yields as they control their collateral. For Baybit users, this means access to a variety of stablecoin options, including a crypto-native solution like USDe.”
The new integration will allow ByBit users to earn rewards for their holdings, said Guy Yang, founder of Athena Labs. The young man told Cointelegraph:
“When users trade with ByBit, they can get first-time rewards and value on guarantees. This can be used to offset cash costs on-site and capture more value for users.”
Athena Labs is one of the most popular protocols in 2024. Etena could be the highest-grossing crypto project on the market, according to forecasts by Jose Maria Macedo, CEO of Delphi Labs and founding partner of crypto investment company Delphi Ventures.
Related: Athena Labs Founder Explains USD Stability Amid High Yield Worries
Etena Labs' US dollar production is a demonstration of the “strength” of the protocol: Baybit CEO
Athena's US dollar synthetic dollar launched in February with a 27.6% APY, sparking widespread concern among crypto investors. The APY was higher than the 20% yield offered by Terra UST on the Anchor protocol before the May 2022 collapse of the algorithmic stable coin issuer Terra.
However, Synthetic Dollar has managed to increase the top yield by more than 12.3% for more than 262,000 users, according to its homepage.
This robust production is another proof of the strength of the protocol, according to Baibit Zhou:
“Despite initial concerns, Athena's ability to generate high yields on USD is a testament to the strength of their protocol. This achievement is particularly impressive given the challenging market environment.
Related: Hong Kong's Largest Online Broker Launches Bitcoin and Ether Trading for 22 Million Users
Will the US dollar in TVL exceed $4 billion following the Baybit merger?
Athena's US dollar total value locked (TVL) is valued at more than $3.2 billion, five months after launch. TVL is down more than 10.9% over the past month, according to DeFillama.
While the $4 billion TVL mark is still a long way off, the use cases introduced by the new integration could increase artificial dollar growth, Etena Labs Young said:
“We hope that this partnership will lead to the widespread use of the USD in various use cases and the potential for dollar exchange is multi-billion so we hope to play an important role in this.”
Etena Labs USD product is officially certified. Yang told Cointelegraph that artificial dollar production is generated by stock returns and shorting of Ether perpetual futures contracts.
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