Ethena, Whales Resume Buying?...Largest Network Growth in 3 Months

▲ Photo=Ethena Labs X Image

While the US cryptocurrency market structure bill, including ethical clauses, stablecoin compensation regulations, and other legislation, is at the threshold of the Senate Banking Committee, Ethena (ENA) recorded its largest daily network growth in about three months. With a surge in new wallet creations and an expansion of whale activity, it is analyzed that institutional inclusion expectations and ecosystem expansion issues surrounding ENA have reignited market interest.

CryptoPotato reported on May 14 (local time) that Ethena recorded its largest single-day network growth in about three months on May 12. During the same period, whale transactions related to ENA tokens also increased to their highest level in five weeks.

Santiment analyzed that several key issues surrounding the Ethena protocol contributed to increased network activity leading up to May 12. A representative factor was Grayscale's inclusion of ENA in its DeFi fund. Grayscale allocated a 13.59% weighting to ENA in the fund, which was evaluated as a significant step towards institutional adoption.

Santiment suggested that this inclusion likely contributed to an increase in new custodial wallet creations. Additionally, the transfer of 310 million USDC from an Ethena-linked wallet on May 8, the suspension of the LayerZero bridge on May 9, and expectations for Ethena's fee switch activation and governance voting were presented as factors that boosted investor interest.

ENA's price has fallen by over 85% from its August 2025 peak. ENA also underwent a significant correction as strong selling pressure continued across the broader cryptocurrency market. However, it showed a modest recovery trend over the past month, and although it gave back some gains due to new selling pressure on Thursday, it maintained a monthly increase of less than 20%.

The USDe expansion is also underway within the Ethena ecosystem. Ethena's USDe stablecoin is set to be integrated into an institutional-focused lending market launched by Jupiter, a Solana (SOL)-based decentralized exchange aggregator, through Jupiter Lend. This product was developed in collaboration with Bitwise Asset Management and Fluid.

This launch was also presented as the first instance of a traditional asset manager curating a lending market on Jupiter Lend. Bitwise stated that Ethena's expansion into the Solana ecosystem and increased institutional presence align with its long-term view on the adoption of on-chain finance and decentralized finance.

Ethena's largest network growth in about three months is interpreted as the result of a simultaneous interplay of institutional inclusion, large fund movements, bridge issues, expectations for fee switch activation, and USDe ecosystem expansion, rather than a mere price rebound. While ENA has fallen significantly from its peak, the increase in new wallets and whale transactions indicates that market interest surrounding Ethena is re-emerging.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*