Ethena, the team behind the USDe synthetic dollar protocol, has withdrawn its bid to issue Hyperliquid’s USDH stablecoin, conceding to concerns raised in direct discussions with community members and validators.
Ethena, the team behind the USDe synthetic dollar protocol, has withdrawn its bid to issue Hyperliquid’s USDH stablecoin, conceding to concerns raised in direct discussions with community members and validators.
In a X statement Thursday, the Ethena team acknowledged pushback over not being a Hyperliquid-native project and said it would step aside, congratulating rival Native Markets, now viewed as the frontrunner in the race.
“While some are complaining about their lack of credibility (Native Markets) I think their success here perfectly embodies everything which is so special about Hyperliquid and their community,” said Ethena Labs founder Guy Young, adding:
“It is a level playing field where emergent players can win the hearts of the community and are given a fair shot at succeeding.”
Ethena’s withdrawal marks a major shift in the bidding process, which has drawn proposals from multiple teams to issue USDH, Hyperliquid’s forthcoming native stablecoin.
With Ethena out, prediction markets on Polymarket are giving Native Markets a 92% chance of winning, with Paxos in second place at roughly 7% at time of writing.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
