USDe has set a new industry record by hitting $10 billion in total value locked (TVL) in just 500 days, making it the fastest stablecoin in history to reach that milestone.

The protocol behind USDe, Ethena Labs, posted:

“everyone wants to know what we’d say if we didn’t reach $10b supply

i guess we’ll never know”

The GENIUS behind the rise of USDe

USDe’s rapid climb has coincided with the passing of the GENIUS Act, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, which represents the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins in the United States.

Enacted on July 18, 2025, it imposes strict new rules on issuers, including 1:1 reserve requirements in low-risk assets, robust federal oversight for large issuers, and strong consumer protections such as priority repayment rights in the event of failure.

The most impactful provision of the ACT, however, and the catalyst behind the rise of USDe, is the prohibition on regulated issuers paying yields on stablecoins, as CoinFund president Chris Perkins told CryptoSlate:

“Under GENIUS, stablecoins do not pay interest to end users, and without interest, stablecoins are depreciating assets. So, holders will seek yield. And that’s where DeFi comes in. If the Treasury Department’s projections are correct and trillions of stablecoins come into the system, expect DeFi summer on steroids as users seek to maximize yield by engaging across a variety of yield strategies. Users will be drawn to yield-bearing vaults, and they will commission AI agents to optimize their returns.”

This ban on yield payments is causing a profound realignment in the stablecoin market. Capital that once flowed to traditional, yield-paying stablecoins such as USDC has been seeking alternatives, and much of it has landed with USDe. As prominent crypto trader, Cas Abbé, pointed out:

“The reason behind this growth is GENIUS Act approval, which prohibit issuers to provide yields on stablecoins.

Due to this, big money has now shifted to $USDe which provides lucrative yield.”

DeFi yield opportunities fuel demand

Ethena Labs has been able to attract this demand thanks to continued yield offerings via decentralized finance (DeFi) mechanisms, which fall outside the restrictions placed on federally supervised issuers. The result is a massive inflow of institutional and retail capital, propelling USDe past many of its competitors. The ENA governance token has also experienced a price appreciation of over 100% in the past month.

USDe’s $10 billion milestone is a testament to how dramatically the GENIUS Act has reshaped the stablecoin landscape. While the law tightens controls and imposes new safeguards, it has also created opportunities for nimble, DeFi-native protocols to capture yield-hungry capital, proving that regulatory shifts don’t have to stifle innovation.

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SharpLink Gaming has officially become the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, surpassing even the Ethereum Foundation.

On July 15, the company revealed it owns 280,706 ETH, valued at $867 million. The company’s impressive ETH holdings grew significantly between July 7 and July 13. During this period, SharpLink purchased 74,656 ETH for $213 million, with an average price of $2,852 per coin.

The firm also announced that 99.7% of its ETH holdings are staked, generating an additional 415 ETH since June 2. Since June 13, the company’s ETH concentration has increased by about 23%.

Joseph Lubin, Chairman of SharpLink, emphasized that these holdings represent the dawn of “collective capitalism,” where businesses build for the community, not just for profit. He stressed that Ethereum’s decentralized, permissionless nature is essential for fostering free markets.

He added:

Collective capitalism is built on the foundations of radically free markets only possible on a permissionless, uncensorable, rigorously decentralized Layer 1 blockchain.”

Following the news, the firm’s stock rose by 20% to $28, according to Google Finance data.

Ethereum treasury strategy gains traction

SharpLink’s announcement aligns with a broader trend of companies beginning to adopt the Ethereum Treasury Strategy.

Over the past 30 days, approximately 10 firms, including SharpLink, have purchased more than 550,000 ETH, totaling $1.65 billion in acquisitions.

Some of these entities were previously Bitcoin miners like Bitmine Immersion Technologies, which recently shifted its focus to the second-largest digital asset.

Kyle Reidhead, co-owner of Milk Road, predicted that this trend is expected to continue, with firms possibly purchasing up to $2 billion worth of ETH in the coming month and $3 billion the following month.

He also noted that the growth of stablecoins and favorable regulations could further fuel Ethereum’s demand.

He stated:

“In the last 30 days, these treasury companies have bought .5% of the entire ETH supply and moved it into Ethereum DeFi smart contracts (via staking or lending). Remember, unlike the ETFs, these companies don’t sell. They only buy (at least for now). This is going to create a supply shock for ETH over the coming months, there’s really no way around it.”

As of press time, about 1,520,715 ETH (worth over $4.5 billion) is locked in various Ethereum reserves belonging to 52 companies. Strategic ETH Reserve data shows that these holdings amount to 1.31% of the digital asset’s total supply.

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