BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has significantly increased his investment in Ethena (ENA), acquiring an additional 1.34 million tokens for 1.02 million USDC in the past 8 hours. This brings his total holdings to 4.45 million ENA tokens valued at approximately $3.48 million. Hayes has publicly predicted that ENA could reach $1.50 per token, citing technically bullish structures including a green doji candlestick that halted a bearish trend.
Parallel to Hayes' accumulation, StablecoinX Inc. has raised $530 million through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing round, bringing their total PIPE financing to $895 million. These funds are intended to acquire over 3 billion ENA tokens, positioning StablecoinX as a major holder in the Ethena ecosystem.
The Ethena Foundation will initiate a $310 million ENA buyback program over the next 6-8 weeks, executed via third-party market makers. The buyback schedule is dynamic: $5 million per day if ENA trades above $0.70, and $10 million per day if it trades below $0.70 or drops more than 5% in 24 hours. Combined with liquid ENA from PIPE investors, this will acquire approximately 13% of ENA's circulating supply.
Market response has been immediately positive, with ENA's price rallying around 10% and trading volume surging 135.27% in a single day. The token's market capitalization now stands at $5.77 billion, reflecting growing institutional and retail interest in Ethena's synthetic dollar ecosystem.