The Ethena Foundation quietly bought out its early investors, and $ENA is up 84.6% in 30 days.
Here's what happened: over two weeks, the Foundation bought all the locked tokens of 14 of its 15 largest seed investors through OTC deals. The selection rule is the interesting part. It targeted investors who had sold ENA after the October 2025 market peak. The terms weren't disclosed. Investors who never sold were offered a buyout at their original purchase price. None accepted.
The rest of the investor vesting now collapses into one event: about 1.41B ENA (~$213M) unlocks on Oct 5, after which the monthly unlock calendar disappears. Roughly 12% of supply stays locked, all team, ecosystem and Foundation.
The bull case is real: less monthly sell pressure, a clean cap table, and a proposed revenue-funded buyback once USDe grows.
The skeptical read: a foundation used its treasury to take out exactly the investors who were already selling, on terms nobody outside can see. Holders who stayed loyal got a lowball offer. And the market pumped on the removal of supply, not on new demand.
Is this a tokenomics fix other projects should copy, or a treasury-funded exit for the VCs who were heading for the door anyway?
#Ethena #Tokenomics
Here's what happened: over two weeks, the Foundation bought all the locked tokens of 14 of its 15 largest seed investors through OTC deals. The selection rule is the interesting part. It targeted investors who had sold ENA after the October 2025 market peak. The terms weren't disclosed. Investors who never sold were offered a buyout at their original purchase price. None accepted.
The rest of the investor vesting now collapses into one event: about 1.41B ENA (~$213M) unlocks on Oct 5, after which the monthly unlock calendar disappears. Roughly 12% of supply stays locked, all team, ecosystem and Foundation.
The bull case is real: less monthly sell pressure, a clean cap table, and a proposed revenue-funded buyback once USDe grows.
The skeptical read: a foundation used its treasury to take out exactly the investors who were already selling, on terms nobody outside can see. Holders who stayed loyal got a lowball offer. And the market pumped on the removal of supply, not on new demand.
Is this a tokenomics fix other projects should copy, or a treasury-funded exit for the VCs who were heading for the door anyway?
#Ethena #Tokenomics
