As we look towards the next innovation chapter in the space, Metis is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Ethena. Demand for assets that generate returns is at an all-time high. "Synthetic fiat" tops the innovation list and boasts huge growth potential. Our partnership marks a critical move into a new age of blockchain assets as Metis supports Ethena’s offering top-tier yields and transforming perceptions of fiat currency and its associated trade-offs.
The world of yield-bearing assets has seen all sorts of renditions, approaches, and solutions over the years. While a few relatively similar initiatives have stood the test of time, we have yet to see the innovative and battle-tested approach that Ethena is bringing to light. Drawing inspiration from conventional finance, 'synthetic fiat' is a modern adaptation of the classic cash-and-carry trade, now applied within the blockchain and decentralized finance sectors. The introduction of Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) allows Ethena to incorporate assets that earn yield into their framework. This innovation enhances the potential yield of cash-and-carry trades, surpassing the usual returns found in traditional finance.
Power up your DeFi strategy with the Metis-Ethena alliance! Metis, a top-tier L2, arms Ethena with a vast, established network to accelerate USDe adoption and expand its use cases. To kick off the partnership, USDe will be coming to Metis alongside their very popular Shards campaign, bringing the coveted points campaign alongside many exciting integrations.
Ethena will enable users to deposit USD, Ethereum, or Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) as collateral to create a new, yield-bearing asset called USDe. This approach ensures stability through a delta-neutral hedging process across centralized and decentralized exchanges. It’s also a perfect complement to the Liquid Staking Blitz that Metis recently launched.
Metis is about to become the first Optimistic Rollup to move from a single-sequencer node model to a decentralized sequencer node model. In combination with the decentralized sequencer launch, Metis will enable the pairing of sequencer nodes with different liquid staking and restaking protocols as part of its Liquid Staking Blitz. As Metis continues to lead innovation in the space, partners such as Ethena will play a key role in ensuring Metis stays at the forefront of blockchain and crypto offerings. With the launch of Metis’ decentralized sequencers around the corner alongside native staking via Metis LSTs, a new era of DeFi composability is here.
The track record for yield-bearing assets in the blockchain world is a mixed one, with depegs and other factors sometimes leading to significant challenges and even failure. Industry-leading risk assessment firm Chaos Labs recently performed a risk assessment of Ethena’s USDe model, one that bodes well for the adoption of Ethena USDe by forward-thinking ecosystems such as Metis.
Full details of the upcoming sharding campaign will be shared in the first week of March. Stay tuned for upcoming Metis announcements.