Ethena launches Ethena Pay on Avalanche

Ethena launched Ethena Pay on September 1, 2026, a self-custodial mobile app that holds balances in USDe and settles only on the Avalanche blockchain. The app offers in-app transfers, fiat on-ramps and a Visa spend card in an initial 49-country beta.

Ethena Pay Ltd is registered in Malta (C 114576) and describes itself as a software company rather than a bank or money services business. Private keys and recovery phrases remain on users’ devices; Ethena Pay does not custody or restore keys. Avalanche published an infrastructure note on the product the day of launch. Ethena has processed more than $30 billion through USDe mint and redeem, and USDe circulating supply was near $4.07 billion on August 30, 2026.

The app went live to roughly 400 beta users on September 1 and 2, with weekly expansion planned through September. Services are available to users 18 and older in 49 authorized countries spanning Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Taiwan and South Korea were listed as coming later and were not live at launch.

The Visa spend card is issued by Third National under Visa’s license, with Rain managing the card program. The card is not offered to U.S. persons. Fiat IBANs and on- and off-ramps are provided through partnered providers, and fiat conversion, ramp and bank-transfer fees from partners are shown in the app before confirmation.

USDe is a synthetic dollar that aims to maintain parity by hedging crypto collateral with short perpetual futures instead of holding a 1:1 pool of cash and Treasury bills. The app uses Avalanche as the only settlement layer and can access liquidity and applications already on Avalanche while keeping users from interacting directly with decentralized finance. Guy Young, Ethena’s founder, wrote on the Avalanche blog that the product connects USDe transfers, payments and settlement behind a simple interface.

The advertised headline rate of “up to 6% per annum” is a total tier rate composed of the USDe base rate plus a discretionary Daily Boost. Ethena Pay does not set the USDe base rate. The Daily Boost is described in the platform’s terms as a promotional incentive that can be reduced, suspended or ended at the company’s discretion and is not covered by deposit-insurance schemes. The Boost accrues on the time-weighted average daily eligible balance, is paid daily in USDe, and requires at least one qualifying card transaction per calendar month. Public pricing lists a Standard tier with a total rate up to 5% on balances up to $5,000, and Pro and VIP tiers with total rates up to 6% on balances up to $15,000 and $50,000 respectively.

Card cashback is paid in AVAX rather than dollars and is converted to AVAX at the AVAX–USD rate when cashback credits. Once credited, cashback is AVAX and its USD value can fluctuate. The published cashback schedule gives Standard users 4% on the first $2,500 of qualifying spend per month and lower rates on additional bands; Pro and VIP tiers have higher first-band rates and extended bands. Excluded categories include cash advances, crypto and stablecoin purchases, NFTs, securities, gambling, gift cards, peer-to-peer transfers and certain account funding transactions. Cashback credits typically appear one to three business days after a purchase settles.

Ethena Pay lists no account-opening, monthly, inactivity or closure fees and no minimum balance. USD card spend is free and the Spend Card carries 0% APR on purchases. The app passes through Visa’s foreign-exchange conversion fee at cost for non-USD transactions. ATM withdrawals, where available, incur a $1.00 fee plus 0.65% and any operator surcharge. Blockchain gas, stablecoin mint/redeem fees and fiat on-/off-ramp fees from partners such as MoonPay or Iron are additional and shown in-app before confirmation. Outbound wires are listed as not currently offered.

Regulatory history remains a factor: Germany’s BaFin ordered an Ethena GmbH shutdown of USDe operations in 2025. Ethena Pay’s public materials state the company provides software and technology services rather than banking, and the card is a secured product where collateral in the linked wallet can be liquidated to cover outstanding charges.

The initial rollout is an invitation-based beta of about 400 users in limited jurisdictions with weekly expansion planned and potential future filings for U.S. or EU authorization listed by the company.