On May 2nd, the stable yield protocol Ethena announced a partnership with the TON Foundation, officially integrating its core product USDe into the Telegram native wallet @wallet_tg, providing seamless dollar savings services for over 1 billion global users. This integration marks a significant milestone in Ethena's global dollarization process, with profound implications especially for emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America facing high inflation pressures.
The collaboration will be rolled out in phases, covering three core directions and will be launched progressively in May:
1. Non-custodial Wallet Integration: USDe and its TON native version tsUSDe will be integrated into mainstream non-custodial wallets like TON Space, @tonkeeper, and @mytonwallet_io. Users can acquire USDe through @ston_fi or @stargatefinance and generate tsUSDe by staking USDe on the TON network.
2. Telegram Wallet Direct Connection: The Telegram native wallet @wallet_tg will launch a USDT Earn Vault, allowing users to stake USDT while earning Ethena yields and supporting USDe as a second native dollar asset, enabling a seamless savings experience.
3. DeFi Scenario Expansion: Ethena will provide underlying support for core DeFi use cases on TON, including lending, fixed-rate swaps, derivatives, and trading, further enhancing the financial infrastructure of the TON ecosystem.
Users holding tsUSDe will enjoy an additional reward mechanism: each TON user can earn an extra 10% annual percentage yield (APY) on up to 10,000 tsUSDe, with rewards distributed weekly in TON. Specific eligibility details will be announced by the TON official team and wallet platforms.
The cross-chain and native integration of USDe and tsUSDe on TON is supported by LayerZero, which not only enables USDe's scalability across multiple chains but also lays the foundation for a native user experience within Telegram.
The high-frequency user ecosystem of TON and Telegram provides Ethena with a natural distribution advantage for global expansion. Taking Alipay's Yuebao and Tencent's wealth management platforms in China as examples, these digital currency market funds once attracted over 850 million users and accumulated more than $265 billion in funds at their peak. The Ethena-TON collaboration aims to replicate this success globally and provide a accessible, secure, and high-yield dollar alternative savings solution for over 3 billion people facing more than 4% local currency inflation.
In the future, Ethena will continue to expand product integration with TON, including Ethena debit card and direct Apple Pay payment functionality, expected to launch in summer pending card organization approval. At that time, Telegram users will be able to directly spend tsUSDe rewards, creating a complete loop from dollar storage to daily consumption.
Ethena will continue to support DeFi innovation on TON, planning to launch more innovative dollar-based asset products with multiple TON ecosystem DeFi protocols in the third quarter, bringing a richer crypto financial experience to Telegram users.
