On September 30, 2025, MEXC Ventures, the investment arm of the global cryptocurrency exchange MEXC, announced a $30 million additional investment in Ethena, bringing its total exposure to $66 million, per. This builds on an earlier $36 million commitment in March 2025, including $16 million in Ethena Labs and $20 million in USDe, Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin, per. Leo Zhao, Investment Director at MEXC Ventures, emphasized, “We view our role as ecosystem builders rather than passive investors,” highlighting synergies in DeFi adoption, per. The funding targets ENA (Ethena’s governance token) and USDe, aiming to enhance liquidity and market dynamics on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, per.
The investment supports Ethena’s growth, with USDe’s market cap reaching $14.65 billion and positioning Ethena among the top six DeFi platforms by TVL, per. MEXC Ventures’ strategy includes providing trading, liquidity, and marketing support, aligning with EU MiCA frameworks for regulatory compliance, per. Ethena’s cross-chain scalability on Ethereum ecosystems could attract institutional investors, per. X posts from @MEXC_Official celebrate the partnership as a step toward Web3 infrastructure, per. This move contrasts with MEXC’s regulatory challenges, including fraud warnings from multiple jurisdictions, per.
The funding accelerates Ethena’s stablecoin innovation, potentially transforming DeFi with diverse stablecoins, per. Projections suggest USDe could reach $20 billion market cap by 2026, driven by institutional inflows, per. MEXC Ventures has invested over $100 million in 40 projects, focusing on ecosystem development, per. Bitcoin (BTC) ($113,234) and Ethereum (ETH) ($4,070) remain stable, per CoinMarketCap, but ENA’s $1.45 price could rally to $2.50 with increased adoption, per TradingView. Risks include SEC scrutiny on synthetic stablecoins, per Coinlaw.io.
Investors should monitor Ethena’s TVL on DefiLlama and USDe flows via CryptoQuant. Dollar-cost average into ENA with stop-losses below $1.20, or diversify into USDC or ETH ($4,070 support), per Techopedia. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. MEXC’s backing could propel Ethena to $10B TVL by 2026, but regulatory hurdles remain, per.
