Well, here’s a development that seems to be making some waves. Based, which is a pretty significant player on the Hyperliquid exchange, has just secured a strategic investment from Ethena Labs. The exact dollar amount wasn’t disclosed, which is pretty common in these deals. The main goal, it seems, is to push for wider use of Ethena’s USDe stablecoin right there on the Hyperliquid platform.
If you’re not familiar, Based is responsible for generating nearly 7% of Hyperliquid’s daily perpetual futures volume. That’s not a trivial amount. So this isn’t some minor partnership. With this new capital from Ethena, the Based team says it plans to really scale up its operations and make USDe a more integral part of its offering.
What This Means for Hyperliquid Users
From what they’re saying, the idea is to make USDe a go-to asset for people trading on Hyperliquid. The Based team mentioned on X that they see USDe playing a “key role” in the ecosystem and they want to be the ones to help make that happen. It sounds like they want to be a central hub for it.
And Ethena’s view is similar. They’re positioning Based as a key partner, not just for the USDe stablecoin, but also for other products like their USDtb and even some things that haven’t been released yet. This feels like the start of a deeper integration, not just a one-off thing.
USDe’s Growing Footprint
This news comes at a time when USDe is really building momentum. Its market cap has ballooned to a staggering $12.8 billion. Let that sink in. That makes it the third-largest stablecoin out there, right behind the giants Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). It’s clearly found its audience.
The adoption isn’t just happening on Hyperliquid, either. We’re seeing it pop up in more places. Just recently, the institutional prime brokerage FalconX integrated USDe. That allows their bigger clients to trade it, hold it, and even use it as collateral for trades. That’s a big vote of confidence from the professional trading world.
And it’s not just for the pros. USDe has also made its way onto the Telegram Open Network (TON). So now users can access it through Telegram’s own wallet or other compatible TON wallets. They’re clearly aiming for both institutional and broader retail adoption at the same time.
It’s a interesting move. Partnerships like this one with Based are probably a part of a larger strategy to embed USDe directly into the platforms where people are already trading. Makes sense, I suppose. Instead of trying to pull users to a new place, you just meet them where they already are.
