Thomas Daniels
Stablecoin issuer Ethena and tokenization platform Securitize have joined forces to participate in Sky’s highly anticipated $1 billion tokenization competition. Their proposal centers on integrating Ethena’s USDtb stablecoin with BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. treasuries fund, BUIDL, as the primary reserve asset.
Launched in March 2024, BUIDL is the largest tokenized U.S. treasuries fund by market cap. Ethena and Securitize aim to leverage BUIDL’s strategic potential in the Tokenization Grand Prix, an initiative by Sky (formerly MakerDAO) to attract $1 billion in tokenized public securities to its ecosystem.
The Sky-backed lending platform Spark announced the competition in June 2024, inviting issuers of real-world assets (RWAs) to compete for liquidity prizes totaling $1 billion. Applications opened on August 12, 2024, and Ethena and Securitize have submitted a comprehensive proposal for consideration.
In addition to their USDtb application, the duo has proposed a swap facility involving Ethena’s secondary stablecoin, USDe. The facility would enable seamless reallocation of assets between USDtb and USDe, ensuring the ecosystem can adapt to Sky’s interest rate fluctuations.
“Should crypto funding expand, Sky could swiftly reduce USDtb holdings and increase USDe allocations without friction, optimizing liquidity more efficiently than current RWA issuers allow,” Ethena Labs stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Ethena’s role in Sky’s ecosystem is substantial, contributing approximately $120 million annually—nearly 30% of the decentralized finance platform’s total revenue—while maintaining a collateral allocation of just 13%.
