Ethena officially launches USDtb, stablecoin backed by BlackRock

Ethena Labs has launched USDtb, a new stablecoin backed by BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.

USDtb operates similarly to other popular fiat-backed stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT), with reserves held at a 1:1 ratio in cash or cash equivalents.

Unlike most stablecoins, USDtb stands out by allocating 90% of its reserves to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. This tokenized money market fund invests primarily in short-term U.S. Treasury bills, cash and repurchase agreements.

According to Ethena (ENA), this is the highest BUIDL allocation of any stablecoin, allowing USDtb to scale more effectively and provide a high degree of stability.

The stablecoin is being launched in partnership with Securitize, a leader in tokenizing real-world assets. USDtb is positioned as a more traditional stablecoin option with a completely separate risk profile compared to Ethena’s flagship token USDe (USDe), which uses a derivatives-based strategy to maintain its peg to the US dollar.

Ethena’s financial ecosystem

The launch of USDtb is part of Ethena’s broader strategy to increase the resilience of its ecosystem, especially in unstable market conditions. While USDe generates returns by shorting assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL), it is susceptible to underperformance during market downturns and negative funding rates.

To mitigate these risks, Ethena’s Risk Committee approved USDtb as a reserve asset for USDe, allowing the platform to reallocate reserves as needed. USDtb is also expected to serve as an alternative collateral option for margin trading on centralized exchanges, further expanding its utility.

According to the company, Ethena has partnered with custodians such as Copper, Zodia Custody, Komainu and Coinbase Institutional to secure USDtb reserves.

Ethena has also applied for USDtb to be included in Sky’s $1 billion Tokenization Grand Prix, which aims to fund tokenized real-world asset projects.

The launch of USDtb follows a series of successful audits carried out by leading firms, including Pashov, Quantstamp and Cyfrin, ensuring the security and reliability of the token.