The New Rise and Potential Risks of USDe Stablecoin

Recently, a new type of stablecoin, USDe, has emerged in the cryptocurrency market, with its market capitalization rapidly climbing to over $8 billion. Unlike traditional fiat-backed stablecoins, USDe adopts a synthetic mechanism based on crypto assets, aiming to break free from reliance on the traditional banking system.

The core mechanism of USDe is a "delta-neutral" structure: the protocol holds positions in assets like ETH on one side while opening equivalent perpetual short positions in ETH on a derivatives trading platform on the other. Through this hedging combination, USDe achieves a net asset exposure close to zero, thereby stabilizing its price around 1 USD. The related sUSDe is the token obtained by users after staking USDe, which has the characteristic of automatically accumulating yields.

Recently, USDe has launched a high-yield incentive program in collaboration with a lending protocol, with an annualized return rate close to 50%. This program requires users to deposit sUSDe and USDe into the lending platform at a 1:1 ratio to form a compound staking structure. Users can earn triple rewards: USDe rewards distributed by the platform, protocol earnings represented by sUSDe, and the base deposit interest from the lending platform.

However, this high-yield model is not without risks. First, if market sentiment turns negative, leading to a negative funding rate, the protocol's yield may decrease or even become negative. Second, after the incentive program ends, the additional 12% annual reward will disappear, and users' actual returns may decline significantly.

It is worth noting that during the rapid rise in ETH prices, the funding pool structure of USDe faced systemic drainage pressure. Data shows that the total locked amount of USDe and sUSDe declined simultaneously during the peak of ETH prices, and the annualized yield did not increase. This phenomenon of "drainage during a rise" reflects market concerns about the sustainability of the USDe model.

Overall, while USDe has achieved significant growth in the short term, its long-term stability still faces challenges. The current high yields largely rely on ongoing incentives, and once these external supports are terminated, USDe may face a pegging crisis similar to other stablecoins. Whether USDe can truly become an important player in the stablecoin market in the future still requires further observation of its performance in different market conditions.