“ENA Spikes 43% as Bulls Pile In — What’s Fueling the Frenzy?”

Ethena’s governance token ENA has surged 43% this week, crossing the $0.50 mark and ranking as the second-best performer among the top 100 crypto assets by market cap, according to CoinGecko. The rally is being driven by mounting speculation that the project is on the verge of activating its long-awaited fee-sharing mechanism for staked ENA (sENA) holders.

Fee Switch Speculation Ignites ENA Rally

The renewed investor interest centers around the potential activation of Ethena’s fee switch — a feature that, once triggered, would allow sENA holders to earn a share of the protocol’s revenue. Originally proposed by market maker Wintermute and approved in November 2024 by the Ethena Foundation, the switch has specific performance thresholds that must be met before it’s turned on.

According to Kairos Research, most of those benchmarks have already been satisfied, including:

• USDe supply exceeding $6 billion
• Cumulative protocol revenue topping $250 million
• USDe listings on 4 of the top 5 centralized exchanges by derivatives volume
• A reserve fund surpassing 1% of the total USDe supply

Only one metric remains unmet: a sufficiently wide APY spread between staked USDe (sUSDe) and comparable DeFi yields such as Aave’s USDC.

“ENA stands out because the revenue-sharing mechanism is already approved — it just needs one last condition to be triggered,” Kairos noted on X. “The market seems to be positioning for that.”

Capital Flows and Market Sentiment Align

Data shows that capital is already moving in anticipation. Kairos highlighted strong inflows into sUSDe relative to rivals like Maker/Sky’s sUSDS, indicating that investors expect Ethena’s yield edge to widen and unlock fee distribution soon.

Meanwhile, bullish sentiment across the crypto market has further lifted ENA’s momentum. According to CoinDesk, over $750 million in new inflows have poured into USDe in recent weeks, signaling strong confidence in Ethena’s DeFi model.

Key Takeaways

• ENA up 43% this week, driven by speculation around upcoming protocol revenue sharing
• Fee switch activation awaits just one remaining benchmark: the APY spread
• sENA holders could soon begin earning from Ethena’s multi-million-dollar revenue
• USDe adoption is accelerating with significant capital inflows
• ENA benefits from both strong fundamentals and broader market tailwinds

If the final condition is met, Ethena’s fee switch could mark a turning point for sENA holders—potentially transforming the token from a governance asset into a revenue-generating instrument, and making ENA one of the most closely watched tokens in the current DeFi cycle.