Anchorage Digital and Ethena Labs declare their USDtb would be the “first” GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin, regardless of USDC already assembly the usual.
Anchorage Digital, which is at the moment the one federally chartered crypto financial institution in the US, says it has partnered with Ethena Labs to convey the USDtb stablecoin to the U.S. market below the newly enacted GENIUS Act.
The collaboration will transfer USDtb, launched in December, from its present British Virgin Islands issuance mannequin by the Pallas Fund (BVI) Ltd, to onshore U.S. issuance by Anchorage Digital’s stablecoin platform. The token at the moment has a $1.45 billion provide on the Ethereum blockchain and is backed predominantly by tokenized cash market fund BUIDL, issued by BlackRock and Securitize.
Questions About “First” GENIUS-Compliant Declare
Anchorage Digital’s that that is the “first GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin” seems questionable based mostly on accessible info. Circle states that “USDC units a excessive benchmark for fee stablecoin requirements codified on this landmark laws” and has positioned itself as already operating in alignment with GENIUS Act necessities.
The GENIUS Act was signed into regulation on July 18, and requires stablecoin issuers to take care of at the very least a 1:1 foundation of United States forex, treasury payments, or different reserves
Ethena Labs’ Controversies
Ethena Labs has been the main target of some latest market controversy. In October 2024, the Crypto Occasions reported that crypto investigator Nomad had accused Ethena Labs of misusing 180 million ENA tokens throughout a farming occasion, claiming the crew managed about 25% of all staked ENA tokens. The allegations recommended this might “considerably dilute the rewards” for different customers. The corporate responded that the tokens in query met the standards for participation however didn’t straight tackle the query of person reward dilution.
Ethena Labs additionally skilled confusion in February 2024 when an inaccurate press launch was circulated claiming main buyers together with PayPal had been collaborating in a funding spherical, which Ethena later clarified was incorrect and described as “an sincere mistake.”
Terra Comparability Issues
Along with its USDtb product, Ethena Lab’s USDe algorithmic stablecoin has drawn comparisons to the failed Terra-Luna ecosystem. USDe presents excessive yields which has raised issues given its similarity to UST’s high-yield mannequin earlier than its 2022 collapse.
Ethena founder Man Younger has labeled comparisons with Terra’s failed UST as a “weak, surface-level argument,” pretty noting that “UST was backed by the LUNA token, which mooned up 100% and dumped 50% in every week” whereas “Ethena’s USD is absolutely backed and absolutely collateralized”.
USDe is an artificial greenback backed with crypto belongings together with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and and corresponding brief futures positions, whereas USDtb is backed by excessive brief period treasury belongings together with BlackRock’s BUIDL.
USDtb is at the moment tradeable on ByBit, Curve and OpenOcean.
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