On September 8, 2026 the Ethena forum confirmed that tokenholders had passed the fee-switch vote. Under it, up to 95% of qualifying net protocol revenue goes to buying back ENA, but only once USDe supply reaches set milestones. The first milestone is $7.5 billion, and supply was about $4 billion at the time. So nothing changed for ENA holders that day. ENA started September 8 at about $0.164 (CoinGecko daily data) and traded lower during the day.
What passed and when
The proposal (August 27–28)
On August 27, Ethena Labs Research proposed supply milestones for the fee switch, working with the Risk Committee. Revenue capture is set by the 14-day average USDe supply:
| 14-day average USDe supply | Protocol revenue capture |
|---|---|
| $7.5B | 5% |
| $10B | 10% |
| $15B | 15% |
| $20B | 20% |
Of the net revenue captured, up to 95% is directed to ENA buybacks. Cointelegraph reported on August 28 that voting was open until September 2. At press time, 65 votes representing about 14.4 million ENA had been cast, all in favour.
The result (September 8)
According to Ethena's July–September 2026 governance update, "The Snapshot vote passed, as confirmed on the forum on September 8."
How far away the trigger is
USDe supply rose from $3.93 billion to $4.18 billion during August. On September 8 it was still well under $7.5 billion. Even after rising by $0.76 billion over September, it peaked at $5.00 billion on September 27 and closed the quarter at $4.94 billion. The buyback mechanism exists, but by the end of September it had not switched on.
Other changes announced the same week
- Investor tokens (announced August 27–28): The Ethena Foundation bought out locked ENA held by certain seed investors. It also agreed with lead investors to release all remaining unvested investor tokens on October 5, 2026 instead of monthly. Team tokens keep their original vesting. Cointelegraph put it this way: "The change accelerates the remaining investor unlocks rather than canceling the tokens." Anyone holding ENA in early September faced a known supply event four weeks out.
- Ethena Pay (September 1): According to Ethena's governance update, a beta launched on Avalanche, with a staged rollout across 48 countries.
- Incentives: Ethena later said there would be zero token incentives and inflation tied to USDe from the end of September.
How far is USDe supply from the buyback trigger?
Enter a 14-day average USDe supply and the milestone you care about to see how much supply still has to grow before that revenue-capture tier applies.
| 14-day average USDe supply | Fee-switch milestone (7.5, 10, 15 or 20) | USDe supply growth still needed to reach the milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 4.94 $B | 7.5 $B | 51.8 % |
| 5 $B | 7.5 $B | 50 % |
| 4.18 $B | 10 $B | 139.2 % |
- Supply and milestone are your own entries; the article's figures are offered only as starting points.
- A result of zero or below means the entered supply already meets that milestone. A negative result is not a buyback amount or a forecast.
This only measures the distance to a tier. It does not estimate protocol revenue, buyback size or the ENA price, and it does not cover the October 5 investor token release or how funding rates change revenue.
Price on the day
| Metric (CoinGecko, September 8, 2026, 00:00 UTC) | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | $0.1640 |
| Market cap | $1.66B |
| 24h trading volume | $431M |
By 13:45 UTC the same day, ENA was at $0.1572. On August 28, as the buyback proposal went to a vote, Cointelegraph reported ENA above $0.17, up 27% in a week. ENA's all-time high is $1.52, set on April 11, 2024, according to CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. At about $0.16 on September 8, ENA was roughly 89–90% below that peak.
Why funding rates matter twice for ENA
According to Ethena's documentation, USDe is "a synthetic dollar, backed with crypto assets and corresponding short futures positions." One of its revenue sources is "Funding rates on delta-neutral basis trades in crypto perpetual and futures markets." Other sources include lending, tokenised short-duration government debt and rewards on stablecoin holdings.
Funding is the periodic payment between long and short holders of a perpetual contract. When funding is positive, longs pay shorts, and a short-hedged position like Ethena's earns. When it is negative, shorts pay longs, and that revenue source turns into a cost. That makes funding a direct input to protocol revenue, and protocol revenue is what the new fee switch would eventually route into buybacks. So for ENA, perps funding shows how traders are positioned, and it also feeds the token's buyback pipeline.
What to watch
- USDe supply against $7.5 billion. Ethena's 14-day average supply sets when buybacks begin.
- The October 5 investor release. Accelerated unlocks add tradable supply on a fixed date.
- Funding across perpetual markets. Long stretches of negative funding cut the revenue that feeds the fee switch.
Nothing here is investment advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose your capital.
