The Ethena team announced Ethena Pay on Sept. 1, 2026, launching what it calls a global neobank for stablecoin payments, savings and transfers. The product moves the issuer of the USDe stablecoin into consumer finance as it seeks to compete with services such as Revolut and Nubank.

Ethena Pay is available to download on iOS and allows users to store, send and spend USDe. Ethena says customers can earn up to 5% cashback on card spending and a 6% rate on dollar savings.

Avalanche said Ethena Pay was built exclusively on its blockchain, which provides the infrastructure for the service.

Payments, savings and transfers

Ethena describes Ethena Pay as an internet neobank that combines conventional financial services with stablecoin infrastructure. Its stated features include free, instant international transfers; top-ups in U.S. dollars, British pounds, euros and local currencies; and reward-bearing, multicurrency savings accounts.

The service also offers International Bank Account Number integration with non-custodial stablecoin accounts. Its “Buy Now Pay Never” feature allows customers to spend savings rewards on everyday purchases. Ethena emphasized that the service was already live rather than being announced for a future launch.

According to Avalanche, USDe serves as the primary collateral for Robinhood’s crypto earn product, while Ethena is integrated with BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, which manages about $25 trillion in assets. Ethena products are also available through more than 100 platforms and protocols.

Ethena targets direct customer relationships

Blockworks researcher Carlos, who uses the name 0xcarlosg, described Ethena’s expansion into consumer finance as one of the most interesting developments among crypto neobanks. He said stablecoin-based neobanks can combine access to dollars, international transfers, yield-bearing balances and everyday payments from launch.

“Ethena enters this market with a major advantage: through USDe and sUSDe, it already owns the underlying dollar and yield layer,” he noted.

Carlos said Ethena had previously distributed its products through Robinhood, Telegram and other integrations but was now seeking direct control of its relationship with end users. “That path is much harder, but the prize is far larger,” the researcher wrote.

He said successful companies in the segment could become multibillion-dollar businesses extending beyond crypto, potentially resembling Nubank or Revolut as the primary financial service for millions of customers using stablecoin infrastructure. Carlos identified cards as an important customer-acquisition channel, noting that tracked monthly spending on crypto cards reached $1.1 billion in August, nearly 200% higher than a year earlier.

Delphi Digital co-founder Tommy Shaughnessy also praised the combination of cashback, savings rewards and a global multicurrency card.

“Ethena team operate at categorically a different level. An internet native neobank with 5% cashback, a 6% savings rate with a card that is global, borderless and multi-currency. This is extremely disruptive for the status quo and returns a ton of value back to consumers globally,” he said.

Researcher flags promotional terms

Jay Lee, a researcher at Liquid Capital, highlighted the product’s legal structure. According to Lee, Ethena characterizes the yield as a “discretionary promotion” rather than interest, and its terms allow the company to reduce or discontinue the boosted rewards.

“The rate is high because the claim on it is weak. That is the price of staying unlicensed,” Lee noted.

The launch follows institutional investment and distribution agreements involving the Ethena ecosystem. In September 2025, M2 Capital Limited, the investment arm of UAE-based M2 Holdings, invested $20 million in the ENA token. In June 2026, Ethena announced a strategic partnership with Coinbase under which its products were set to gain access to the crypto exchange’s audience of more than 100 million users.

Source: Incrypted