South Korea's premier cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has announced the listing of USDe (Ethena USDe), a synthetic stablecoin developed by the Ethereum ecosystem. Trading is scheduled to commence on January 14th at 6 PM local time, with deposits opening approximately 1.5 hours after the official announcement.
The new trading pairs will include USDe/KRW, USDe/BTC, and USDe/USDT. Upbit has issued specific operational guidelines: transactions will be exclusively supported on the Ethereum network, and transfers from other blockchains will not be credited. The exchange strongly advised users to verify the official USDe smart contract address before initiating any transfers.
To ensure market stability at launch, Upbit will implement temporary trading restrictions. For the first five minutes, buy orders will be completely disabled. During this same initial period, sell orders priced below 10% of the previous day's closing price will also be blocked. Furthermore, for approximately two hours after trading opens, only limit orders will be permitted.
USDe distinguishes itself from traditional fiat-backed stablecoins through its delta-neutral structure. It aims to maintain a stable value pegged to $1 by holding crypto assets like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) as collateral while simultaneously taking short positions in futures contracts of equivalent nominal value. This model, developed by Ethena, incorporates automated risk management, custody solutions, and reserve mechanisms designed to balance funding costs.
The stablecoin is anticipated to see growing adoption as collateral within decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, for on-chain payments, and in derivatives markets. Its listing on a major exchange like Upbit significantly enhances its accessibility and liquidity, particularly for the Korean market.
