The score, by dimension
- the same for all 7
- #6 of 7 · best 17.8
- the same for all 7
- the same for all 7
- the same for all 7
Tick: the best in this ranking · Methodology v2026.11.1
Ethena USDe
Hedged synthetic dollar
#6 of all 7 worldwide51
- Rank
- #6 of all 7 worldwidere-runs: scores 49–53 and stays #6
- Your cost
- Not priced on this basis
- Evidence
- High4 of 4 criteria sourced
- Licence
- No MiCA record on file
- Freshness
- Read October 2026checked · re-read due
Check availability for your country
Ethena USDe · docs.ethena.fi. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
The verdict
Ethena USDe is #6 of 7 published CDP stablecoins; it scores 4/10 on peg resilience, where the category best is 7. Its widest gap is liquidation mechanics: 3/10, where Aave GHO scores 6. Choose Aave GHO if liquidation mechanics matter most.
Is Ethena USDe right for you?
Look elsewhere if
- Liquidation mechanics you actually bear3/10 here; Aave GHO scores 6
- What actually backs the coin2/10 here; Aave GHO scores 4
- Cost of the loan and who controls it2/10 here; Aave GHO scores 6
- Observed peg behaviour under stress4/10 here; Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS scores 7
Not yet tested for your country. Markets it lists: Global. Restricted: United States.
to test where you can use it.
The rank above is the published one, the same for every reader. Find my best CDP stablecoin shows where it lands for you.
What will Ethena USDe cost you?
Not priced on this basis
- Amount borrowed
- $10k
How safe is Ethena USDe?
- Evidence: verified4 of 4 criteria rest on quoted, sourced receipts. Read October 2026.
- LicenceMiCA (EU): no register record on file here.
If it doesn’t fit, choose
Compare all 4- 4Aave GHOIf liquidation mechanics matter most: 616 points above · stronger on liquidation mechanics (6 against 3)67$450 a year · read
- 5Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDSIf peg resilience matters most: 77 points above · stronger on peg resilience (7 against 4)58
- 7Reflexer RAI10 points below · weaker on liquidation mechanics (0 against 3)41
Provider at a glance
- Category
- CDP Stablecoins
- Entity
- All 3 Ethena products
- Official website
- docs.ethena.fi
Independent rankingchecked How it works
Details
Scored 51 out of 100 under methodology 2026.11.1, from the evidence read in October 2026.
For your setup
Find out if Ethena USDe fits you
The rank above is the published one — the same for every visitor. Answer the category's questions and this section shows where Ethena USDe lands for you, which criteria your answers weight up, and which stated needs the record does or does not meet. The published rank stays beside it.
- A few questions
- No account required
- Ranking-blind: no commercial input
- Personalised in under 60 seconds
Find my best CDP stablecoinNothing is inferred from clicks, popularity or commercial value.
Why this rank
Why Ethena USDe ranks #6
Each strength is read from evidence on a 0–10 ladder and weighted as the published methodology states. The 32 objective points these produce (8.8 here) sit inside the score; availability, friction, trust record and measured data add the rest.
4 published criteria · Σ weight 100
CriterionWeightStrength · 0–10ScoreContrib.MedianBestRankEvidence
353+3.366.09#6/7
Primary
Provider page · read 2026-10-22252+1.604.08#5/7
Primary
Provider page · read 2026-10-22202+1.286.010#6/7
Primary
Provider page · read 2026-10-22204+2.564.07#3/7
Third party
Third party · read 2026-10-22Hairline = best in this ranking · tick = its median · a missing bar is "not scored", never zero
Margin−7behind Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS, #5 of all 7 worldwide, on the published score
RobustnessHoldsacross a one-point change to each of its 4 criterion scores, the re-run scores 49–53 and stays #6
Evidence4 of 4 scored4 quoted, 4 with a source link
What would move the rank
Each line is the ranking run again with one of Ethena USDe’s criterion scores changed and every other value held: the smallest whole-point change on that criterion that moves its rank, and where the re-run puts it. Up to 4 climbs and 3 falls are listed, smallest change first. Nothing here is a forecast.
Liquidation mechanics you actually bear 3 → 7 on its ladder · passes Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS+460#6 → #5
What actually backs the coin 2 → 7 on its ladder · passes Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS+559#6 → #5
Cost of the loan and who controls it 2 → 8 on its ladder · passes Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS+658#6 → #5
Observed peg behaviour under stress 4 → 10 on its ladder · passes Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS+658#6 → #5
Smallest climb: liquidation mechanics you actually bear 3 → 7 passes Sky (formerly MakerDAO) USDS, #5.
Strengths
0 from the score dataWhere it leads
No scored criterion is at or within one point of the category best, so no strength can be stated from the data.
Tradeoffs
4 from the score dataWhere it trails
Not for readers who put first
- Liquidation mechanics you actually bear — 3/10 against a category best of 9/10
- What actually backs the coin — 2/10 against a category best of 8/10
- Cost of the loan and who controls it — 2/10 against a category best of 10/10
- Observed peg behaviour under stress — 4/10 against a category best of 7/10
Record watch-outs
- Ethena does not belong in this category and should not be compared on collateral ratios — it has none. If you came here to borrow dollars against crypto you already own without selling it, USDe cannot do that: minting is permissioned to whitelisted counterparties who hand over assets in exchange, so retail simply buys USDe on the open market and holds an unsecured claim on a basis trade. Its market price has broken par twice in the past year on DefiLlama: an hourly low of $0.9651 on 2025-10-10 and a low of $0.97897 on 2026-02-02.
- Ethena's full documentation corpus (docs.ethena.fi/llms-full.txt, 390,947 characters) and its individual pages contain: 'no direct liquidation risk' = 0 hits with no equivalent phrasing; 'not transferred' = 0 hits; 'closes the protocol' / 'exchange closes' = 0 hits; 'whitelisted user deposits' = 0 hits. The actual minting text reads 'A whitelisted user provides ~$100 of USDT and receives ~100 newly-minted USDe atomically in return'. 'Off-Exchange Settlement' does appear (49 times), so the OES substance is sound. But the docs' Liquidation Risk page does not assert users bear no liquidation risk — it affirms the opposite framing, that liquidation is real and sits on protocol positions: 'exchanges retain the discretion to forcibly close positions when there is a considerable difference in value between the two assets.' The substantive conclusions about USDe are correct and independently confirmed; the verbatim attributions are fabricated and must be replaced with real quotes or dropped. Read again 15 September 2026: 'whitelisted user deposits' and 'no direct liquidation risk' still return 0 matches in llms-full.txt; the pricing note now quotes the Minting Example from docs.ethena.fi/overview/how-usde-works.md, which is now the pricing source, and the 'no direct liquidation risk' quote is no longer in the description.
Competitive position
How Ethena USDe places on each criterion
Rank on every objective dimension among the rows scored on it. A criterion in the top third of its pool is listed as a lead, the bottom third as a trail; the middle is neither. Popularity, size and commercial terms are not dimensions.
Against the leader
80 vs 51 · gap 29.0Why Liquity V2 (BOLD) ranks above Ethena USDe
The compare workspace's arithmetic applied to these two rows. Each dimension's share of the gap is its weight × the difference, on the displayed scale — it reproduces the displayed gap of 29.0 to within rounding.
DimensionThisLiquity V2 (BOLD)Gap share
Availability · 23% weight · constant here14.014.0same
Published criteria · 35% weight6.617.8−29.1, worse
Friction · 12% weight · constant here2.72.7same
Trust record · 9% weight · constant here3.23.2same
Measured data · 21% weight · constant here8.38.3same
Published criterionThisLiquity V2 (BOLD)Points
Liquidation mechanics you actually bear · w3538−5.60, worse
What actually backs the coin · w2528−4.80, worse
Cost of the loan and who controls it · w2029−4.48, worse
Net5180−29.0
Your scenario
Ethena USDe is not priced for this scenario
Interest on what you borrow at the published rate. Variable rates move; excludes origination and liquidation penalties. Change an input and every figure recomputes from the published rate; the published rank does not move.
interest/yr · default scenario — set your own
Amount borrowed · your input$10k
Rate read from the provider’s published pricing ↗ on 22 October 2026.
interest/yrCost is stated as interest/yr in USD; it is never a yield, never annualised, and it does not enter the score.
Not priced on this basis
Under the default inputs · USDTypical costNot statedFewer than 5 priced rows: no typical cost is named · 3 of 7 rows priced
Lowest fee, priced rows$249 · Liquity V2 (BOLD)Difference not stated · availability not applied — set your country to filterCompare with Liquity V2 (BOLD)
3 of 7 rows in this ranking have no verified rate for this scenario and are absent from the typical, not counted as free.
1 of 7 quote a zero fee that leaves costs out, so they are absent from the typical and the lowest fee, not counted as free.
Evidence
Evidence read 22 October 2026
One row per published criterion: the page each strength was read from, its source type by domain, the reading date and whether the file and the published table agree. Open a row for the quote and the receipt.
4 of 4 cells scored
Score evidenceVerified4 of 4 criteria reconstruct from receipts
4 of 4 criteria reconstruct from a quoted, sourced receipt equal to the published strength.Public receiptsReading…4 quoted with a source URL
The receipt file has not been read yet.Evidence confidenceHighcoverage and corroboration, never freshness
4/4 criteria scored, with 4 dated sources quoted.RobustnessHoldsrank #6 across every one-point re-run
Whether the position holds when one criterion score is changed by one point and the ranking is run again. It is always a re-run of the ranking, never an estimate.The newest evidence read on the platform is 10 November 2026; this category's reading is older. The scores stand as read on 22 October 2026.
CriterionSourceTypeReadFreshnessStatusReceipt
Liquidation mechanics you actually bearstrength 3 · weight 35Report an errorProvider's own page22 October 2026…
Verified
The published strength matches the evidence cell and a source page is on file.What actually backs the coinstrength 2 · weight 25Report an errorProvider's own page22 October 2026…
Verified
The published strength matches the evidence cell and a source page is on file.Cost of the loan and who controls itstrength 2 · weight 20Report an errorProvider's own page22 October 2026…
Verified
The published strength matches the evidence cell and a source page is on file.Observed peg behaviour under stressstrength 4 · weight 20Report an errorThird-party page22 October 2026…
Verified
The published strength matches the evidence cell and a source page is on file.How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
- Control failure (Ethena USDe 2/10): a key or vote changes the rules, freezes or mints.Scored by Cost of the loan and who controls it · 20%
- Oracle failure (Ethena USDe 3/10): a wrong price or outcome liquidates or settles a position.Scored by Liquidation mechanics you actually bear · 35%
- Insolvency failure (Ethena USDe 2/10): the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.Scored by What actually backs the coin · 25%
- Exit failure (Ethena USDe 4/10): you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.Scored by Observed peg behaviour under stress · 20%
Not assessed by this ranking: Contract failure, Regulatory failure, Execution failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Facts
facts, not scoresWhat the record publishes
- Pricing
- No borrowing cost exists because no loan exists. Ethena's docs describe minting as an atomic swap: 'A whitelisted user provides ~$100 of USDT and receives ~100 newly-minted USDe atomically in return less the gas & execution costs to execute the hedge.' and 'The protocol opens a corresponding short perpetual position for the approximate same notional dollar value on a derivatives exchange.' Fees: 'Slippage & execution fees are included in the price when minting & redeeming. Ethena earns no profit from the minting or redeeming of USDe.' No collateral ratio, stability fee or liquidation penalty is published because none applies to the user.Ethena docs — How USDe Works ↗ · 22 October 2026
- Prices published in
- USDEthena docs — How USDe Works ↗ · 22 October 2026
- Licences held
- Not published
- Compliance level
- partial
- Regulatory note
- Not published
- Supported chains
- Multi-chain
- Markets served
- global
- Primary markets
- Not published
- Restricted markets
- United States
- Operating limits
- Not published
- Availability note
- Ethena's USDe Terms and Conditions ("Last Updated: August 2025", read 22 October 2026 at docs.ethena.fi/resources/usde-terms-and-conditions) say: "Additionally, users in the United States are not eligible to become a Mint User. This restriction may be revisited from time to time taking into account relevant changes in law." and "Applicable laws require us to prevent Restricted Persons from holding USDe or using USDe Services.", where a Restricted Territory is "(currently, Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and the Ukraine regions of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk)". Ethena's Terms of Service list the United States among the "Prohibited Jurisdictions" and add "The Company may utilize certain tools, such as IP-based geofencing, to enforce the above restrictions." Holding or trading USDe on secondary markets is not gated on-chain. Bucket: global, United States restricted for mint and stake.
Legal entity on file: Ethena, placed in 3 products. Only confirmed entities are shown; nothing is inferred from the brand name.
If something goes wrong with Ethena USDe: where to complain, and where to report a scam
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How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means this product in this category was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.
How we review · Review calendar · Corrections log · How we make money
History
What the record carries
Changes to published ranks are recorded in a ledger; every step and its cause is listed on the rank-history page. The entries below begin with the current verified snapshot, then the methodology versions whose changes applied to this category, newest first.
10 methodology entries
- 22 October 2026Current verified snapshot · methodology 2026.11.1Score 51, #6 of 7. 4 of 4 criteria scored. History starts here; earlier values are not interpolated.
- 15 October 2026
2026.10.10The live-data rule names the researched market measurements a criterion reads- changed The live-data rule names a second kind of figure a score reads: a researched, dated market measurement a criterion's ladder is built on, read again on the 45-day review. /methodology/live-data lists the 14 criteria that read one; no score, rank or order changes.
- changed A saved decision is checked again on the answers the reader saved. The drift check had merged a priority suggested by the market (price swings, gas) into those answers, so a market reading could move a saved decision's #1; the published ranking never read it.
- added On every build a test reads every criterion's published ladder: one that names a market quantity or a market-data source must be declared, and every scored row of a declared criterion must carry the source and the date its figure was read.
- 10 October 2026
2026.10.8When nothing serves your country, the list shown for reference is the published ranking · platform-wide- fixed The reference list shown when nothing serves your country is the published order with the published scores, and a build check now fails any such list out of that order or with a score the ranking does not publish.
- fixed The explorer prints an overall rank only for a row the published ranking holds; a country entrant such as Coinbase Commerce for US merchants shows no overall rank.
- changed Published orders do not move. Country results change only where nothing serves the country: in India bill pay keeps Bitcoin Well first and now shows Strike second, as published; 35 such runs across all categories and countries now match the published list exactly.
- 10 October 2026
2026.10.6A criterion you require re-scores the rows that meet it · platform-wide- changed The explorer sends each criterion you require, at any band, as fit_required with your other answers; region, licence, chain and fact filters stay filters. On /best, a required criterion joins For you as a marked preference does, which needs your country; Overall stays the published ranking, filtered.
- added Every published criterion has a golden case as the explorer sends it (require:<criterion>), so the order a requirement gives is replayed and gated as the published order is, and a change to it needs an entry here.
Methodology 2026.11.1, the same published run every visitor sees · receipt cdp_stablecoins:ethena_usde:2026.11.1:3ca1ffa85b58
Are you Ethena USDe? Reply to this verdict, or send evidence, ask for a correction or claim the listing. Every message gets a public ticket number; none of it changes a rank unless a public page or a signed statement supports it.