In late July 2025, Ethena Labs launched Liquid Leverage, which quickly amassed over $1.5 billion in inflows through a partnership with Aave. This event highlights growing interest in new strategies within decentralized finance (DeFi).
Ethena and Aave Partnership
The partnership between Ethena Labs and Aave led to the launch of Liquid Leverage, a new DeFi product that gathered over $1.5 billion in inflows. This collaboration allows users to engage in leveraged yield strategies using Aave's Ethereum Money Market.
To facilitate increased user engagement, Aave raised the deposit limits for sUSD to approximately $350 million and for USD to $300 million, allowing broader access to new financial strategies.
New Yield Strategies in DeFi
The launch of Liquid Leverage reflects expansion trends in DeFi. This mirrors previous surges in the space, such as Maker's DAI growth in 2021, indicating a fundamental shift towards diverse yield opportunities.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the current price of Ethena Staked USDe is $1.19, with a market cap of $5.01 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $9.73 million, marking a 6.38% increase. Recently, there has been significant market activity surrounding this asset.
Market Prospects and Risks
Coincu analysts speculate that as stablecoin-backed assets increasingly dominate DeFi, there may be heightened regulatory scrutiny, similar to previous large inflows into DeFi. Despite potential risks, rapid user adoption of Ethena's model indicates sustained market interest.
Thus, the launch of Liquid Leverage by Ethena Labs and its connections to growth in the DeFi market highlight the development of new strategies and opportunities that might significantly reshape the financial landscape in the future.