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Coinbase Ventures Makes First Ethena Investment Through Open-Market ENA Purchase

Coinbase Ventures Makes First Ethena Investment Through Open-Market ENA Purchase

Ethena said its strategic partnership with Coinbase is focused on expanding onchain finance and savings services, with the first initiative for Coinbase’s 100 million-plus user base set to start next week.

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ENA

Fact Check
Coinbase Ventures' own official X post (@cbventures, status 2061847987610112039) directly states it backed Ethena via an open market purchase of ENA and flagged closer partnership with Coinbase and USDC. This is corroborated by The Block and The Defiant on the same day (June 2, 2026), each citing Ethena's announcement and confirming the open-market nature of the purchase and the partnership to expand onchain finance and savings products.
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Summary

Ethena said it has formed a strategic partnership with Coinbase to expand onchain finance and savings services using Coinbase’s user base of more than 100 million. Coinbase Ventures also disclosed its first investment in Ethena through a public-market purchase of ENA. The first initiative under the partnership is scheduled to begin next week. Previous reporting said the collaboration involves onchain finance and savings products tied to USDC, though neither company disclosed the size of the ENA purchase, the structure of the first offering, or the partnership’s financial terms. Ethena operates a synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum with about $5.4 billion in total value locked and roughly $983 million in cumulative fees, according to DeFiLlama.

Terms & Concepts
  • ENA: The token associated with Ethena that Coinbase Ventures said it bought on the public market.
  • onchain finance: Financial services built directly on blockchain networks, allowing transactions, savings, or other products to operate through crypto-based infrastructure.
  • Synthetic dollar: A blockchain-based asset designed to maintain dollar-like value through crypto-native mechanisms rather than a conventional bank deposit.