A New Stablecoin Is Making Its Way Onto Telegram's Billion-User Network

Ethena Labs, the team behind the synthetic dollar USDe, has announced a partnership with The Open Network (TON), the blockchain underlying messaging giant Telegram.

The integration will see USDe and its yield-bearing version, Ton Staked USDe (tsUSDe), deployed natively on TON.

Announced via blog post on Thursday (August 15), Ethena explained that users will be able to access these assets via both custodial and non-custodial TON wallets and use them in decentralized finance (DeFi) apps within the ecosystem.

However, getting the tailor-made TON version of USDe is a little cumbersome. First, users must acquire USDe through one of TON’s DeFi partners and store it in a compatible wallet.

From there, staking that USDe will generate tsUSDe, essentially a version of the asset that earns Ethena rewards.

For a limited time, a 10% weekly APY is also being offered only to users holding tsUSDe in non-custodial wallets.

This is part of a broader rollout, with Ethena hinting at more products to come.

High on the list is a debit card for spending tsUSDe directly and potential Apple Pay integration.

“We are also applying for a debit card to be used for spending tsUSDe in the real world and integrating with Apple Pay for seamless in-app and online payments,” wrote Ethena.

“The card is still pending approval from the relevant authorities, but we are aiming to launch the payment solution later this year.”

Ethena’s entry is a significant move that underscores increasing confidence in TON’s long-term capabilities.

Now, USDe is officially the second stablecoin to launch on TON to varying degrees of success.

The bulk of stablecoin activity on TON is comprised of Tether’s (USDT) stablecoin, which launched in mid-2024.

At present, USDT comprises 100% of all stablecoin activity on TON, holding a market share of $898.79 million.

For its part, USDe’s market cap sits at a sturdy $4.6 billion. Though it doesn’t compare with Tether’s overwhelming $148.75 billion market cap, the USDe stablecoin is still young, having launched just over a year ago in February 2024.

It’ll also be interesting to see how USDe is integrated into the broader Telegram ecosystem.

At present, USDT is leveraged for trade and cross-border transactions on Telegram, existing more as a service than a product.

USDe could be set to capitalize on this as it’ll seemingly be integrated at a deeper level, and its presence could trickle into Telegram’s blooming mini-app ecosystem.