South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit listed Ethena's synthetic stablecoin USDe on Tuesday, prompting BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes to predict the project's ENA governance token will reach $1.
The listing occurred days after Dubai's financial regulator excluded USDe from its approved stablecoin framework, highlighting divergent regulatory approaches toward the delta-neutral cryptocurrency.
ENA rose 8.3% following the Upbit announcement, trading at $0.238 at time of publication.
What Happened
Trading for USDe began at 6 p.m. Korean Standard Time on January 14, with pairs available against the Korean won, Bitcoin, and Tether's USDT across the Ethereum network.
Hayes, who serves as founding advisor to Ethena through his family office Maelstrom, responded on social platform X with "Giddy up b*tches! it's time for $ENA = $1."
On-chain analytics show Hayes purchased 1.22 million ENA tokens worth approximately $257,500 in late December 2025, demonstrating sustained conviction in the third-largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
USDe maintains its dollar peg through a delta-neutral structure combining spot cryptocurrency collateral with offsetting short positions in perpetual futures contracts, distinguishing it from traditional fiat-backed stablecoins.
Regulatory Divergence
The Upbit listing came just two days after Dubai's Financial Services Authority updated its Crypto Token Regulatory Framework on January 12, establishing stricter stablecoin standards.
The DFSA reserves "fiat crypto tokens" designation exclusively for stablecoins backed by fiat currency reserves held in segregated accounts with regulated custodians.
Elizabeth Wallace, DFSA's associate director for policy and legal, stated that algorithmic stablecoins lack transparency regarding operations and redemption mechanisms.
Wallace confirmed USDe would not meet the Dubai International Financial Centre's stablecoin definition but clarified the token remains permissible as a general crypto asset without regulatory treatment afforded to fiat-backed alternatives.
The DFSA's approved list includes only Circle's USDC and EURC, along with Ripple's RLUSD, requiring reserves equal to outstanding tokens held in highly liquid assets with minimal credit risk.