December 16, 2024
Athena Labs launched a new stablecoin today called USDT. Nearly 90% of the stablecoin’s reserves are backed by BlackRock’s tokenized fund, BIDL.
This new asset complements Athena’s previous stablecoin, USDE, and helps Athena Labs manage challenging market conditions.
Ethena Labs' New Stablecoin Introduced
According to the announcement, USDT is a “completely independent product” from USDE, Athena’s first stablecoin. It explained that this new offering has a different risk profile than USDE due to its significant backing from BlackRock.
“USDT operates like a traditional stablecoin like USDC or USDT, using fiat and fiat-equivalent reserve assets to back each token. BlackRock BioIDL accounts for the vast majority of USDT’s backing, and currently has the highest BioIDL allocation of any stablecoin on the market,” Athena Labs said on social media.
Athena Labs announced its plan to offer USDT in September, and the token is now live today, December 16. There is noticeable excitement in the crypto community, as this is the first major stablecoin to be backed by BlackRock’s token fund.
Meanwhile, the interest surrounding the launch was reflected in the native Athena token. Following the news, ENA surged to its highest price since April, reaching $1.32. It has since faced brief corrections and is currently trading at $1.20. The token has gained nearly 117% in the past month.
With USDtb in the news since September, ENA has received several investments in the past few months. According to Binance, Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial (WLFI) recently invested around $500,000 in the token. The company has also invested in other altcoins, such as LINK and AAVE.
Athena Labs claimed that the stablecoin can scale without any practical restrictions due to BUIDL support, and users will enjoy free and unrestricted transfers.
Although the new stablecoin is a completely different product from USDe, they will have a symbiotic relationship. Since USDtb is a more stable asset with large reserves, it can be used as a backing asset for USDe.
“Last week, the Athena Risk Committee approved a proposal to list USDtb as a backing asset for USDe. During periods of negative funding rates, Athena will be able to close its underlying USDe hedging positions and reallocate its USDtb backing assets to optimize the associated risk,” the company wrote in its announcement.
In other words, USDtb will allow Athena Labs to offer new options to consumers and security to its own investment choices. With this launch, Athena Labs seeks to strengthen its position in the highly competitive stablecoin market.
While Tether’s USDT and Circles’ USDC have dominated the market for several years, these new products could push for broader competition in the market. Ripple’s new stablecoin RLUSD is also set to launch tomorrow. If these assets continue to gain popularity, Tether’s long-standing market dominance could be eroded throughout 2025.
